Cahuana v. Blanche

── Cahuana v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: June 02, 2026 Category: General 23-7166 Sopa-Cahuana v. Blanche BIA Drucker, IJ A220 999 352/353 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. At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 2nd day of June, two thousand twenty- six. PRESENT: PIERRE N. LEVAL, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., SARAH A. L. MERRIAM, Circuit Judges. _____________________________________ ERLINDA ENCARNACION SOPA- CAHUANA, I.D.B.-S., Petitioners, v. 23-7166 NAC TODD BLANCHE, ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, 1 1 The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as set forth above. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is automatically substituted for former Attorney General Pamela Bondi as Respondent.  Respondent. _____________________________________ FOR PETITIONERS: Michael Borja, Borja Law Firm, P.C., Jackson Heights, NY. FOR RESPONDENT: Brian Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Song Park, Assistant Director; Sanya Sarich Kerksiek, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC. UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is DENIED. Petitioner Erlinda Encarnacion Sopa-Cahuana and her minor son, natives and citizens of Ecuador, seek review of an August 23, 2023 decision of the BIA affirming an August 17, 2022 decision of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). 2 In re Erlinda Encarnacion Sopa-Cahuana, Nos. A 220 999 2 We do not discuss the CAT claim because, as the Government notes, Sopa-Cahuana failed to exhaust it on appeal to the BIA. See Vera Punin v. Garland, 108 F.4th 114, 124 (2d Cir. 2024) (“[W]hen an argument made to this Court cannot be closely matched up with a specific argument made to the BIA, it has not been properly exhausted and we cannot hear it.”). 2 352/353 (B.I.A. Aug. 23, 2023), aff’g Nos. A 220 999 352/353 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Aug. 17, 2022). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history. Because the BIA summarily affirmed without opinion, “we review the IJ’s decision as the final agency determination.” Shunfu Li v. Mukasey, 529