In an unusual move, the Third Circuit granted a petitioner's application for withholding of removal without remanding to the agency for further fact-finding. The court determined that country conditions evidence, ignored by the Board, was sufficient to show that current conditions in Honduras established a clear probability that the petitioner would be persecuted on account of his political opinion. "In this instance, we are convinced that evidence of the politically motivated death threats, the inaction on Mendoza’s complaints, a perpetrator and judge who shared a political affiliation in opposition to that of Mendoza, and evidence of a politically corrupt justice system that failed to reign in politically motivated violence in Honduras compels two findings: first, the Honduran government was unwilling or unable to protect Mendoza from death threats; and, second, Mendoza could not safely relocate in Honduras."
The full text of Mendoza-Ordonez v. Attorney General can be found here: