Martinez De Artiga v. Barr, 961 F.3d 586

Background

In 2014 MS-13 repeatedly tried to recruit Martinez’s son Noe (age 10); after he refused, gang members threatened to kill him and his family. Martinez began escorting Noe; gang members later confronted Martinez at home, displayed a knife, and threatened to kill her and Noe if he did not join.
Martinez and Noe fled El Salvador within a week and entered the U.S.; Martinez later applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection, listing Noe as a derivative.
The IJ found Martinez credible and corroborated, but denied asylum/withholding, concluding MS-13 targeted Martinez to deter interference with recruitment (not because of membership in Noe’s family), so no nexus to a protected ground.
The IJ denied CAT relief because Martinez fled promptly after the threats, she and her children suffered no physical harm before flight, and death-certificate/news evidence did not show killings for interfering with MS-13’s recruitment; the BIA affirmed.
The Second Circuit majority held the IJ erred as a matter of law in treating prompt flight and lack of prior physical harm as dispositive of CAT eligibility and remanded for further proceedings; a dissent would have treated the IJ’s decision as a permissible factual finding.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
CAT: Whether prompt flight / absence of prior physical harm precludes CAT relief	Martinez: Prompt flight after credible threats is not a legal bar; a credible threat of imminent death can support CAT when government acquiescence and country conditions make torture more likely than not.	Gov: IJ reasonably found lack of prior torture/physical harm and limited threats made CAT relief unlikely.	Majority: IJ erred to treat prompt flight/no prior physical harm as categorical bar to CAT; remand required because futility not established.
CAT: Government acquiescence requirement	Martinez: Evidence of pervasive MS-13 violence and continued targeting of family supports inference that Salvadoran officials acquiesce or are willfully blind.	Gov: IJ did not reach acquiescence; record insufficient to show state consent or willful blindness.	Remand: Agency must address acquiescence if it finds likelihood of torture on remand.
Asylum/Withholding: Nexus to protected ground (family membership / political opinion)	Martinez: Persecution was on account of membership in her son’s nuclear family and/or political opinion opposing MS-13 (protecting son).	Gov: IJ/BIA: MS-13 targeted Martinez to prevent interference with recruitment (criminal motive), not because of her family status or protected opinion.	Not decided on merits: Court remanded for further fact-finding; declined to resolve social-group/political-opinion issues given evolving law.
Procedural: Motion for summary denial / remand futility	Martinez: Agency error requires remand; cannot say remand would be futile.	Gov: Sought summary denial; argued record supports denial.	Court denied government’s motion for summary denial, granted petition for review, vacated BIA decision, and remanded.

Key Cases Cited

Gurung v. Barr, 929 F.3d 56 (2d Cir. 2019) (standards on remand futility and review of agency legal error)
Hui Lin Huang v. Holder, 677 F.3d 130 (2d Cir. 2012) (future-event findings are factual and reviewed for substantial evidence)
Li Hua Lin v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 453 F.3d 99 (2d Cir. 2006) (remand required where agency made legal errors unless outcome on remand is inevitable)
De La Rosa v. Holder, 598 F.3d 103 (2d Cir. 2010) (standard for government acquiescence/willful blindness in CAT claims)
Khouzam v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 161 (2d Cir. 2004) (government willful blindness acquiescence test)
S.E.C. v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80 (1943) (agency decision cannot be upheld on a rationale the agency did not invoke)
Diallo v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 548 F.3d 232 (2d Cir. 2008) (remand may allow IJ to consider claims not fully developed before the BIA)
Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr, 948 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2020) (illustrates evolving treatment of gang-related social-group claims)