NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 30 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
PEDRO ANTONIO CHAVEZ-CRUZ, No. 12-70960
Petitioner, Agency No. A099-669-563
v.
MEMORANDUM*
JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted May 24, 2017**
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and SILVERMAN and RAWLINSON,
Circuit Judges.
Pedro Antonio Chavez-Cruz, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order affirming an
immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and
withholding of removal, and reversing the IJ’s decision granting protection under
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. §
1252. We review de novo questions of law. Bhattarai v. Lynch, 835 F.3d 1037,
1042 (9th Cir. 2016). We grant the petition for review and we remand.
In denying Chavez-Cruz’s asylum and withholding of removal claims, the
agency found Chavez-Cruz failed to establish a nexus to a protected ground.
When the IJ and BIA issued their decisions in this case, they did not have the
benefit of this court’s decisions in Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081 (9th
Cir. 2013) (en banc), Cordoba v. Holder, 726 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2013), Pirir-Boc
v. Holder, 750 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2014), and Reyes v. Lynch, 842 F.3d 1125 (9th
Cir. 2016), or the BIA’s decisions in Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 227
(BIA 2014), and Matter of W-G-R-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 208 (BIA 2014).
In reversing the IJ’s grant of CAT protection, the BIA cited its decision in
Matter of V-K-, 24 I&N Dec. 500 (BIA 2008), for its de novo standard of review of
the IJ’s decision. In Matter of Z-Z-O-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 586, 589-91 (BIA 2015),
the BIA overruled Matter of V-K- as to its standard of review of the IJ’s factual
findings.
Thus, we remand Chavez-Cruz’s asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT
claims to determine the impact, if any, of these decisions. See INS v. Ventura, 537
U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam).
In light of our disposition, we do not reach Chavez-Cruz’s due process
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contentions at this time.
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED.
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