[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 17-13309

Non-Argument Calendar

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Agency No. A208-752-974

CRISTIAN ARTURO LOPEZ-AREVALO, 

 Petitioner,

versus

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, 

 Respondent.

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Petition for Review of a Decision of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

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(June 27, 2018)

Before MARTIN, JILL PRYOR, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Christian Arturo Lopez-Arevalo (“Arevalo”), a native and citizen of El 

Salvador, petitions this Court for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ 

(“BIA”) determination that he did not establish eligibility for asylum, withholding 

of removal, or relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and 

Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). On 

appeal, Arevalo argues that his credible testimony that the Mara Salvatrucha (“MS13”) threatened to harm his family if they did not repay money that his brother had 

stolen, that the family fled from their home to avoid harm, and that the gang killed 

his uncle shortly after Arevalo left El Salvador provided substantial evidence for a 

finding that he suffered past persecution and had a well-founded fear of future 

persecution on account of his family relationship with his brother.

We review the BIA’s decision as the final judgment, unless the BIA 

expressly adopted the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision or relied on its 

reasoning. Gonzalez v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 820 F.3d 399, 403 (11th Cir. 2016). Here, 

the BIA did not expressly adopt the IJ’s opinion or rely on its reasoning, and thus 

we review only the BIA’s decision. Id. In a petition for review of a BIA decision, 

we review conclusions of law de novo and factual determinations under the 

substantial evidence test. Id. Issues not decided by the BIA are not properly 

before this Court. Id. In addition, where the agency does not discredit an asylum 

seeker’s testimony, we accept that testimony as credible. See Kazemzadeh v. U.S. 

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Att’y Gen., 577 F.3d 1341, 1354 (11th Cir. 2009) (noting that the government 

could not argue on appeal that an asylum seeker’s testimony was less than credible 

where neither the BIA nor the IJ discredited his testimony).

The substantial-evidence test requires us to “view the record evidence in the 

light most favorable to the agency’s decision and draw all reasonable inferences in 

favor of that decision.” Adefemi v. Ashcroft, 386 F.3d 1022, 1026−27 (11th Cir. 

2004) (en banc). We “must affirm the BIA’s decision if it is supported by 

reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a 

whole.” D-Muhumed v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 388 F.3d 814, 817–18 (11th Cir. 2004) 

(quotation marks omitted). To reverse fact findings, we “must find that the record 

not only supports reversal, but compels it.” Mendoza v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 327 F.3d 

1283, 1287 (11th Cir. 2003). 

The Attorney General or Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security 

(“DHS”) has discretion to grant asylum if the alien meets the Immigration and 

Nationality Act’s (“INA”) definition of a “refugee.” INA § 208(b)(1), 8 U.S.C. 

§ 1158(b)(1). A “refugee” is one who is unable or unwilling to return to his home 

country, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of his home 

country, because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account 

of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 

opinion. INA § 101(a)(42)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). The asylum applicant 

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carries the burden of proving statutory “refugee” status. INA § 208(b)(1)(B)(i), 8 

U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(i). To meet this burden, the applicant must present 

evidence establishing past persecution on account of a statutorily protected ground 

or a well-founded fear that the alien will be persecuted on account of a protected 

ground. INA § 101(a)(42)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). 

Persecution is an extreme concept, requiring more than a few isolated 

incidents of verbal harassment or intimidation. Sepulveda v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 401 

F.3d 1226, 1231 (11th Cir. 2005). Accordingly, we have held that menacing phone 

calls and threats to an applicant and her family did not rise to the level of past 

persecution that would compel a finding in the applicant’s favor. Id. Similarly, we

concluded that record evidence did not compel a finding of past persecution where 

the record showed that the applicant was detained for five days and subjected to 

some physical abuse, but there was no evidence that the petitioner was hurt while 

detained. Zheng v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 451 F.3d 1287, 1290–91 (11th Cir. 2006). To 

establish a well-founded fear of future persecution, the applicant must demonstrate 

that his fear is both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. Sepulveda, 

401 F.3d at 1231. A showing of past persecution creates a presumption of a wellfounded fear of future persecution, which the government may rebut. Id.

The BIA has held that a “particular social group” refers to persons who share 

a common, immutable characteristic, such as sex, color, or kinship ties, or in some 

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circumstances a shared past experience such as former military leadership or land 

ownership. Castillo-Arias v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 446 F.3d 1190, 1193 (11th Cir. 

2006); id. at 1196 (deferring to the BIA’s formulation of “particular social group”). 

Furthermore, the group must have sufficient “social visibility,” and persecution 

based on membership in a particular social group should not be defined so broadly 

that it becomes “a catch-all for all groups who might claim persecution.” Id. at

1196–97. 

The asylum applicant must show a nexus between the persecution he 

suffered or fears and a statutorily protected ground by offering credible, direct, and 

specific evidence in the record. Rodriguez Morales v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 488 F.3d 

884, 890 (11th Cir. 2007). The alien must demonstrate that one of the enumerated 

grounds “was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting the applicant.” 

INA § 208(b)(1)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(i). Evidence consistent with a 

finding that the alien was persecuted based on a refusal to cooperate with the 

persecutors or was a victim of criminal activity is insufficient to show that an 

enumerated ground was one central reason for persecution. Ruiz v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 

440 F.3d 1247, 1257−58 (11th Cir. 2006); see also Matter of J–B–N & S–M–, 24 I. 

& N. Dec. 208, 214 (BIA 2007) (interpreting the phrase “central reason” to require 

that the protected ground not be “incidental, tangential, superficial, or subordinate 

to another reason for harm”). 

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To obtain withholding of removal, an applicant must establish that his life or 

freedom would be threatened in the proposed country of removal because of his 

race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 

opinion. INA § 241(b)(3)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). The standard for 

withholding of removal is more stringent than the “well-founded fear of future 

persecution” standard required for asylum. Rodriguez Morales, 488 F.3d at 891. 

The alien must show that there is a clear probability of persecution if the alien is 

returned to his home country. Id. If the alien establishes past persecution, it is 

presumed that his life or freedom would be threatened if removed unless the 

government rebuts the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence. 8 C.F.R. 

§ 208.16(b). 

To qualify for protection under the CAT, an alien must establish that he 

more likely than not will be tortured at the instigation of or with the consent or 

acquiescence of government authorities if removed to his home country. Malu v. 

U.S. Att’y Gen., 764 F.3d 1282, 1292–93 (11th Cir. 2014). An alien who cannot 

meet the less stringent “well-founded fear” standard for asylum necessarily fails to 

establish eligibility for withholding of removal or protection under the CAT. 

Forgue v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 401 F.3d 1282, 1288 n.4 (11th Cir. 2005); D-Muhumed, 

388 F.3d at 819.

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The record does not compel reversal of the BIA’s asylum determination. 

First, Arevalo’s credible testimony that a gang threatened his household on a single 

occasion was insufficient to establish past persecution. Second, substantial 

evidence supported a conclusion that Arevalo was not targeted on account of his 

family membership, but was instead targeted for money, because he credibly 

testified that (1) the gang threatened harm only if he did not repay money that his 

brother had stolen; (2) the gang specifically threatened him because he was the 

primary income earner; (3) the gang killed his uncle because his uncle failed to 

repay the stolen money; (4) the gang threatened his entire household, which 

included not only blood relatives, but also his common-law wife; and, (5) the gang 

did not contact or threaten his siblings living elsewhere in El Salvador. Third, 

substantial evidence supported a conclusion that Arevalo did not have a wellfounded fear of future persecution because he credibly testified that, after he left 

the country, the gang had not contacted any member of his former household or his 

siblings living in El Salvador. Because substantial evidence supported the BIA’s 

determination that Arevalo did not show a well-founded fear of future harm for 

asylum, the BIA also did not err in concluding that Arevalo failed to satisfy the 

more stringent standard for withholding or removal and CAT protection. 

PETITION DENIED.

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