⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The First Circuit hears Marco Tulio Flores Diaz's challenge to removal to El Salvador. Flores came to Boston from El Salvador when he was six. He says a family friend began sexually abusing him when he was nine and continued for years. At seventeen, Flores killed the man and set fire to his apartment. He later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and arson, served about thirteen years, and was detained by immigration authorities upon release. An immigration judge found the conviction a particularly serious crime, barring asylum and withholding of removal, but granted deferral under the Convention Against Torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the serious-crime ruling and reversed the torture ruling. Flores will argue that the Board failed to explain why the crime shows he remains dangerous and improperly reweighed the torture evidence. The government will agree that the torture issue should return to the Board but will defend the serious-crime ruling.

Marco Tulio Flores Diaz v. Todd Blanche (No. 25-2032) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, argued September 14, 2026.