# Withholding of Removal **Status: stub — expand.** **Withholding of removal** (8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)) bars the government from removing a person to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Unlike asylum it is **mandatory** once the standard is met — but the standard is higher ("more likely than not," not a "well-founded fear"), it protects only against removal to the specific country, and it confers no status, no path to a green card, and no right to bring family. Protection under the [[Convention Against Torture]] (8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.16–.18) runs alongside it with no criminal bars. Withholding is the only relief available on the reinstatement track of the [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]]: a person with a prior removal order who passes a "reasonable fear" screening is placed in **withholding-only proceedings**, where asylum is never on the table. *Riley v. Bondi* (June 26, 2025) held that a Board decision in withholding-only proceedings is not a "final order of removal," which changes how the 30-day petition-for-review clock runs. [[Kilmar Abrego Garcia]] held a 2019 grant of withholding to El Salvador when he was removed there on March 15, 2025. ## See also - [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]] — Stage 5 and Bypass B - [[Convention Against Torture]] · [[Expedited Removal]] · [[Kilmar Abrego Garcia]]