Rene Gonzalez-De Leon v. William P. Barr, 932 F.3d 489

Rene Gonzalez-De Leon, a Guatemalan national and former taxi driver, sought asylum after receiving gang threats for refusing to transport drugs and participate in gang activities; he fled Guatemala in Oct 2015.
He surrendered at a U.S. port of entry in Arizona and passed a credible-fear interview; received a Notice to Appear (NTA) lacking date/time and a subsequent Notice of Hearing with date/time.
An IJ denied asylum, withholding, and CAT relief in May 2017, finding Gonzalez not credible and concluding he failed to show membership in a cognizable particular social group (PSG).
The BIA affirmed, specifically holding that proposed groups based on taxi-driving status were not protected PSGs because taxi driving is not an immutable characteristic.
On appeal to the Sixth Circuit, the court presumed Gonzalez credible on appeal, rejected his PSG claims, and held the IJ and BIA had jurisdiction because the later Notice of Hearing supplied the missing date/time.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether BIA erred in adverse credibility finding	Gonzalez argued BIA wrongly affirmed IJ's adverse credibility	Government defended IJ/BIA credibility finding	Court avoided credibility question by presuming credibility on appeal and resolved case on other grounds
Whether "taxi drivers" (and narrower variants) qualify as a particular social group for asylum	Gonzalez argued former taxi-driver status (and variants) is immutable/recognizable and thus a PSG	Government argued employment-based groups are not immutable or socially distinct and prior precedents reject such groups	Court held proposed groups are not cognizable PSGs — taxi-driving status is not an immutable, particular, socially visible trait
Whether IJ/BIA had jurisdiction when NTA lacked date/time	Gonzalez relied on Pereira to argue NTA without time prevents vesting of jurisdiction	Government argued later Notice of Hearing supplying time cures jurisdictional defect per Sixth Circuit precedent	Court held jurisdiction was proper because the Notice of Hearing provided the missing date/time
Whether threats from gangs establish persecution on account of PSG	Gonzalez relied on gang threats tied to his taxi role/refusal	Government contended no evidence that gangs target former taxi drivers or that such individuals are perceived as a group	Court agreed with government — record lacked evidence that former taxi drivers are targeted or socially perceived as a group

Al-Ghorbani v. Holder, 585 F.3d 980 (6th Cir. 2009) (BIA decision reviewed as final agency determination when BIA issues separate opinion)
Khalili v. Holder, 557 F.3d 429 (6th Cir. 2009) (deference to BIA interpretations of immigration statutes)
Urbina-Mejia v. Holder, 597 F.3d 360 (6th Cir. 2010) (PSG requires a common, immutable characteristic)
Castellano-Chacon v. INS, 341 F.3d 533 (6th Cir. 2003) (immutable-characteristic standard for PSG)
Almuhtaseb v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 743 (6th Cir. 2006) (abrogation context acknowledged)
Khozhaynova v. Holder, 641 F.3d 187 (6th Cir. 2011) (employment-based groups, e.g., business owners refusing extortion, are not PSGs)
Umana-Ramos v. Holder, 724 F.3d 667 (6th Cir. 2013) (individuals targeted for gang recruitment do not constitute a PSG)
Miranda v. Sessions, 892 F.3d 940 (8th Cir. 2018) (former taxi drivers are not a PSG)
Hernandez-Perez v. Whitaker, 911 F.3d 305 (6th Cir. 2018) (Notice of Hearing issued after NTA can vest immigration-court jurisdiction)
Santos-Santos v. Barr, 917 F.3d 486 (6th Cir. 2019) (distinguishing stop-time rule from jurisdictional notice requirements)