Guarchaj-Guachiac v. Blanche

── Guarchaj-Guachiac v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: May 01, 2026 Category: General 24-128 Guarchaj-Guachiac v. Blanche BIA Reid, IJ A220 320 400/347 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT SUMMARY ORDER RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL. 1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second 2 Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley 3 Square, in the City of New York, on the 1st day of May, two thousand twenty- 4 six. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 JOHN M. WALKER, JR., 8 RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., 9 BETH ROBINSON, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _____________________________________ 12 13 MARIA DOMINGA GUARCHAJ- 14 GUACHIAC, J.G.-G., 15 Petitioners, 16 17 v. 24-128 18 NAC 19 TODD BLANCHE, UNITED STATES 20 ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL, 21 Respondent. * 22 _____________________________________ * The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as set forth above. 1 FOR PETITIONERS: Michael Borja, Esq., Borja Law Firm, P.C., 2 Jackson Heights, NY. 3 4 FOR RESPONDENT: Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant 5 Attorney General; Jeffery R. Leist, Senior 6 Litigation Counsel; Kathleen Kelly Volkert, 7 Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration 8 Litigation, United States Department of 9 Justice, Washington, D.C. 10 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a Board of 11 Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND 12 DECREED that the petition for review is DENIED. 13 Petitioners Maria Dominga Guarchaj-Guachiac and her minor son, natives 14 and citizens of Guatemala, seek review of a December 18, 2023, decision of the BIA 15 affirming a June 21, 2023, decision of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying their 16 applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention 17 Against Torture (“CAT”). In re Guarchaj-Guachiac, et al., Nos. A 220 320 400/347 18 (B.I.A. Dec. 18, 2023), aff’g Nos. A 220 320 400/347 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City June 21, 19 2023). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and 20 procedural history. 21 We have reviewed the IJ’s decision as modified and supplemented by the 22 BIA. See Xue Hong Yang v. U.S. Dep’t of Just., 426 F.3d 520, 522 (2d Cir. 2005); Yan 2  1 Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir. 2005). We review “the entirety of the 2 agency’s conclusions—both the underlying factual findings and the application of 3 the INA to those findings—for substantial evidence,” but review pure questions 4 of law de novo. See Urias-Orellana v. Bondi, 146 S. Ct. 845, 849 n.1, 851 (2026). 5 “[T