Castillo v. Blanche

── Castillo v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: May 29, 2026 Category: General 23-7618-ag Flores-Castillo v. Blanche BIA Drucker, IJ A240 477 782/783 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 TO 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 29th day of May, two thousand twenty-six. PRESENT: SARAH A. L. MERRIAM, MARIA ARAÚJO KAHN, Circuit Judges, ARUN SUBRAMANIAN, District Judge. * __________________________________________ WENDIS MELANIA FLORES-CASTILLO, P. A. V.-F., † Petitioners, v. 23-7618-ag * Judge Arun Subramanian of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. † We use only initials to refer to the minor petitioner in this publicly accessible order, consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(a)(3) and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 25(a)(5). TODD BLANCHE, Acting United States Attorney General, Respondent. __________________________________________ FOR PETITIONERS: Michael W. Pottetti, Law Office of Michael Pottetti, Port Jefferson, N.Y. FOR RESPONDENT: Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division; Holly M. Smith, Assistant Director; Brett F. Kinney, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 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 GRANTED. Petitioners Wendis Melania Flores-Castillo, on behalf of herself and her female minor child, both citizens of Honduras, seeks review of an October 4, 2023, decision of the BIA affirming an October 11, 2022, decision of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). 1 See In re Flores-Castillo, Nos. A 240 477 782/783 (B.I.A. Oct. 4, 2023), aff’g Nos. A 240 477 782/783 (Immigr. Ct. N.Y.C. Oct. 11, 2022). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history. 1 Flores-Castillo is the sole petitioner in this matter; her minor child is listed as a derivative beneficiary on Flores-Castillo’s application. 2  “Where, as here, the BIA affirms the result below without opinion, we review the IJ’s decision directly as the final agency