IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-60244

Summary Calendar

DAVID ISAAC MAZARIEGOS-VASQUEZ,

Petitioner

v.

ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,

Respondent

Petition for Review of an Order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

BIA No. A089 229 948

Before KING, JOLLY, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

David Mazariegos-Vasquez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions 

for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissal of his appeal 

from the denial of his application for withholding of removal. As he fails to 

address the denial of his applications for asylum and relief under the 

Convention Against Torture (CAT), any challenge to the denial of those 

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not 

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH 

CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

March 18, 2015

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 

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No. 14-60244

applications has been abandoned. See Zhu v. Gonzales, 493 F.3d 588, 593 n.10 

(5th Cir. 2007); Soadjede v. Ashcroft, 324 F.3d 830, 833 (5th Cir. 2003). 

The BIA determined that Mazariegos-Vasquez was ineligible for 

withholding of removal because he failed to show a nexus between the harm 

he feared from criminal gangs and any protected ground under the 

Immigration and Nationality Act. Specifically, Mazariegos-Vasquez claimed 

to be part of a particular social group consisting of educated and religious 

people in Guatemala who were approached by gangs and refused to join them. 

Mazariegos-Vasquez argues that, contrary to the immigration judge’s 

(IJ) finding, he established past persecution and that, contrary to the findings 

of the IJ and the BIA, he demonstrated a nexus between the harm he feared 

and his membership in the proposed social group. He also states that his 

proposed social group should be recognized for purposes of withholding of 

removal because, in Tapiero de Orjuela v. Gonzales, 423 F.3d 666 (7th Cir. 

2005), the Seventh Circuit recognized educated, landowning cattle farmers as 

a distinct social group for purposes of asylum.

We review the decision of the BIA and will consider the IJ’s decision only 

to the extent it influenced the BIA. Shaikh v. Holder, 588 F.3d 861, 863 (5th 

Cir. 2009). The BIA made no determination regarding whether MazariegosVasquez had been persecuted in the past and thus was not influenced by the 

IJ’s findings in that regard. Accordingly, we do not address MazariegosVasquez’s challenge to the IJ’s findings regarding persecution. See Dayo v. 

Holder, 687 F.3d 653, 658 n.2 (5th Cir. 2012).

As Mazariegos-Vasquez has not shown that the BIA’s determination that 

he was not a member of a particular social group was arbitrary or capricious, 

we will not disturb that determination. See Orellana-Monson v. Holder, 685 

F.3d 511, 518-21 (5th Cir. 2012). Further, the record before us does not compel 

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No. 14-60244

a conclusion contrary to that of the BIA that Mazariegos-Vasquez failed to 

show a nexus between the feared harm and the alleged social group. See Zhang 

v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 339, 344 (5th Cir. 2005). Accordingly, MazariegosVasquez’s petition for review is DENIED.

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