de Leon-Barrios v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Thompson, J.
OVERVIEW
Edgar Octaviano de Leon-Barrios (de Leon); his wife, Lili Villagrana; and their two sons, Edgar and Gerson de Leon, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision denying their application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a, and we deny the petition for review.
FACTS
De Leon and his family are citizens of Guatemala. They sought political asylum and withholding of deportation. De Leon’s wife’s and sons’ claims for asylum and withholding of deportation are derivative of his application. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(3).
De Leon arrived in the United States in February 1993. Shortly thereafter, he filed an application for political asylum. In this first application, he stated that he fled Guatemala because, on several occasions, guerilla groups had threatened to kill him after he refused to help them. He also stated that guerilla groups killed his cousin and kidnapped his father after they refused to help the guerillas. De Leon testified he submitted this 1993 asylum application to obtain a work permit.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) denied the request for asylum and…