NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ALLAN MENDEZ

- GALDAMEZ,

Petitioner,

v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General,

Respondent. No. 18

- 72296 Agency No. A206

- 362

- 708

MEMORANDUM *

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted September 1, 2020 * * Seattle, Washington Before: McKEOWN and VANDYKE, Circuit Judges, and KENDALL, ** * District Judge.
Allan Mendez

- Galdamez, a Honduran citizen, seeks review of the Bureau of Immigration Appeal s’ ( “ BIA ” ) denial of his application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252, we review the BIA’s findings of

* This disposition is not appropriate for publicat ion and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36

- 3.

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

*** The Honorable Virginia M. Kendall, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, sitting by designation. 

# FILED

SEP 22 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS2

fact for substantial ev idence, see Zhao v. Mukasey , 540 F.3d 1027, 1029 (9th Cir. 2008) , and we deny the petition. 1 Substantial evidence supported the BIA’s conclusion that Mendez

- Galdamez failed “to establish that [local gang members] targeted the applicant because he was a member of his family.” While family membership can be a cognizable particular social group, s ee Rios v. Lynch , 807 F.3d 1123, 1128 (9th Cir. 2015) , Mendez

Galdamez fai led to show that he suffered the gang’s harms and threats “on account
of [his] familial relationship .” Parada v. Sessions , 902 F.3d 901, 910 (9th Cir. 2018) (quoting Rios , 807 F.3d at 1128); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A) (“ because of the
alien ’ s
... mem

bership in a particular social group ”) (emphasis added). Unlike
Parada , where the evidence clearly showed that the nongovernmental group was targeting a specific family, 902 F.3d at 910 (the guerrillas “even shout[ed] the ... family name as [they] entered the family’s village”), the evidence here reveals “ no nexus between the harm and their status as family members. ” Matter of L

- E

- A

- , 27 I. & N. Dec. 40, 46 (BIA 2017) . Indeed, that Mendez

- Galdamez can only speculate
th at gang members killed his father, that he and his family before and after his father’s death were neither harmed nor threatened by the gang, and that he

1 The parties a re familiar with the facts and we recite them here only where necessary. Mendez

Galdamez has waived any argument regarding his request for relief un der Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture b y failing to raise and argue the issue in his opening brief

. See Martinez

- Serrano v. INS , 94 F.3d 1256, 1259

– 60 (9th Cir. 1996) (deeming issues not discussed in a party’s opening brief waived).3

successfully evict ed the gang members from his sister’s house once he found paying

tenants , belie any suggestion “ that the persecutors had any animus against the family or the respondent based on their biological ties, historical status, or other features unique to that family unit. ” Id . at 47. T he agency reasonably determin ed that any
harm was motivated by “general criminal reasons

. ” And “[a]n alien ’ s desire to be free from harassment by criminals motivated by theft or random violence by gang members bears no nexus to a protected ground. ” Zetino v. Holder , 622 F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th Cir. 2010)

. For t he same reasons, Mendez

- Galdamez cannot independently show that his
“life or freedom would be threatened in [his home] country because of [his]

... membership in a particular social group .” Id . at 1015 (emphasis added ; alterations in original ) (quoting 8 U.S .C. § 1231( b)(3)(A))

. As noted, his family has remained
in Honduras unharmed and unthreatened. See Santos

- Lemus v. Mukasey , 542 F.3d 738, 743

– 44 (9th Cir. 2008), abrogated on other grounds by Henriquez

- Rivas v.
Holder , 707 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2013) ; see also Estrada v. I.N.S. , 775 F.2d 1018, 1022 (9th Cir. 1985) (“ The absence of harassment of an alien ’ s family tends to reduce the probability of persecution. ”).
PETITION DENIED

.