Reyes Pujols v. Garland, 37 F.4th 1

Reyes, a Dominican national, entered the U.S. without admission in 2017 and conceded removability but sought asylum, withholding, and CAT relief based on severe abuse by his employer and police officers.
At merits hearing Reyes testified he was forced to deliver money, then abducted, stabbed, and later shot by officers; medical records corroborated injuries.
The IJ found Reyes not credible, citing demeanor (flat/"robotic" at times, emotional other times) and several "critical inconsistencies," and denied relief; Reyes appealed to the BIA only on his CAT claim.
The BIA affirmed the denial, expressly declining to rely on the IJ’s demeanor observations and instead upholding the adverse credibility finding based on non-demeanor inconsistencies (considered in the aggregate).
One key inconsistency relied on was that Reyes had obtained a loan that the IJ/BIA thought approximated the 600,000-peso debt, undermining his claim he could not pay; Reyes contended the record does not show he ever actually had the money.
The First Circuit vacated the BIA’s affirmance and remanded, holding that the loan-based inconsistency was not supported by substantial evidence; the petition on the motion to reconsider was dismissed as moot.

Issue	Reyes's Argument	Government's Argument	Held
Credibility finding based on demeanor/trauma bias	IJ’s demeanor findings reflect an unconscious bias against trauma survivors and failed to account for Reyes’s PTSD symptoms	Government: record shows PTSD but BIA expressly declined to rely on demeanor, so no reversible error	Court: rejected bias claim; BIA disclaimed demeanor reliance and IJ’s opinion did not show the credibility finding depended entirely on demeanor
Reliance on non-demeanor inconsistencies to affirm adverse credibility	The non-demeanor inconsistencies (as a whole) are unsupported by the record	BIA: IJ identified multiple non-demeanor inconsistencies and relied on them in the aggregate	Court: cannot uphold adverse credibility because at least one critical inconsistency lacked record support; vacated and remanded
Loan inconsistency (did loan show Reyes could pay attackers?)	Loan testimony does not show Reyes ever "came up with" the demanded money or paid attackers; at best it shows a future indebtedness	BIA/IJ: loan amount (with interest) approximated the debt, making claim of inability to pay implausible	Court: record does not show Reyes had the funds; the supposed inconsistency is unsupported and cannot sustain the adverse credibility finding
Remedy	Vacate adverse credibility finding and remand for further proceedings	Affirm removal order	Court: vacated BIA’s ruling, remanded for further proceedings; petition re: motion to reconsider dismissed as moot

Mazariegos v. Lynch, 790 F.3d 280 (1st Cir. 2015) (CAT requires proof that torture is more likely than not)
Cuesta-Rojas v. Garland, 991 F.3d 266 (1st Cir. 2021) (review standard for adverse credibility and record-as-a-whole review)
Mboowa v. Lynch, 795 F.3d 222 (1st Cir. 2015) (vacatur where BIA affirmed on unsupported discrepancies)
Jabri v. Holder, 675 F.3d 20 (1st Cir. 2012) (vacatur when adverse credibility rested on unsupported findings)
Diaz-Garcia v. Holder, 609 F.3d 21 (1st Cir. 2010) (standard for deferring to credibility findings unless compelled otherwise)
Anacassus v. Holder, 602 F.3d 14 (1st Cir. 2010) (same standard of review for credibility)
Al-Amiri v. Rosen, 985 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2021) (record-as-a-whole review principles)
Mukamusoni v. Ashcroft, 390 F.3d 110 (1st Cir. 2004) (error to treat testimony as weaker and demand extra corroboration)
Huang v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 142 (2d Cir. 2006) (examples of overt adjudicator bias warranting reversal)
Elias v. Gonzales, 490 F.3d 444 (6th Cir. 2007) (adjudicator’s hostile demeanors can require vacatur)
Shahinaj v. Gonzales, 481 F.3d 1027 (8th Cir. 2007) (BIA must explain how decision stands after excising improper inferences)