United States Ninth Circuit

In a petition for review, brought by a former Salvadoran professional soccer player and deputy to a Salvadoran congressman, of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision that he was statutorily barred from asylum and withholding of removal relief under the serious nonpolitical crime bar, and did not qualify for protection under the Convention Against Torture, the petition is denied where: 1) the evidence did not compel the conclusion that Silva was credible; 2) substantial evidence supported the BIA's determination that Silva was ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal under the serious nonpolitical crime bar, because there was probable cause to believe that he was complicit in the murders in Guatemala of three Salvadoran representatives to the Central American Parliament; 3) the Court need not decide whether the law of the case doctrine applies to administrative proceedings in the immigration context because even assuming it does, neither the immigration judge nor the Board explicitly decided the serious nonpolitical crime issue before the final round of decisions; and 4) Silva never asserted any fear of torture in Nicaragua, the country he designated for removal, and to which the IJ ultimately ordered removal.

Appellate Information

• Published 2016/07/07

Judges

• O'SCANNLAIN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel