NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

MARIA ISABEL CAMPOS-JOVEL and 

JOSE ALEJANDRO MARIN-CAMPOS,

Petitioners,

 v. 

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, 

Respondent.

No. 19-72545

Agency Nos. A208-281-189

A208-281-190

MEMORANDUM*

On Petition for Review of an Order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

Submitted May 10, 2022**

San Francisco, California

Before: O’SCANNLAIN and BUMATAY, Circuit Judges, and BAKER,***International Trade Judge.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication 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 M. Miller Baker, Judge for the United States Court of 

International Trade, sitting by designation.

FILED

MAY 17 2022

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
2 

Maria Isabel Campos-Jovel and her son, Jose Alejandro Marin-Campos, petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision dismissing their 

appeal from the order of an Immigration Judge (IJ) denying their application for 

asylum and withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against 

Torture (CAT).

1

We “review the BIA’s denials of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT 

relief for ‘substantial evidence’ ” and will reverse only if the evidence compels a 

contrary conclusion. Garcia-Milian v. Holder, 755 F.3d 1026, 1031 (9th Cir. 2014). 

We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we dismiss in part and deny in part.

Petitioners contend the BIA and IJ erred by finding that Petitioners failed to 

show a nexus between any persecution they faced and a protected ground. Before 

the BIA, Petitioners argued that they faced or will face persecution based on their 

political opinion and membership in the particular social group of “family.” The BIA 

agreed with the IJ that there was no nexus between any persecution and a protected 

ground.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination. As to the claim based 

on political opinion, Petitioners do not challenge the BIA’s nexus determination and 

that issue is waived. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1259 (9th Cir. 

1 Petitioners did not appeal the denial of CAT relief to the BIA. The BIA deemed 

that claim abandoned.
3 

1996). As to the particular social group of “family,” the BIA noted that there was no 

evidence that gang members harassed Marin-Campos based on familial ties. Rather, 

the BIA affirmed the IJ’s finding that the gang members harassed Marin-Campos 

because they wanted him to join their gang. In fact, the IJ noted that Marin-Campos 

testified that other individuals were recruited to be gang members, women were recruited to be girlfriends of gang members, and others were extorted for money.

As to Campos-Jovel, the BIA similarly cited the IJ’s analysis that the gang 

targeted her to recruit her son into the gang. Petitioners also refer to gangs murdering 

two of Campos-Jovel’s nephews elsewhere in El Salvador, but nothing in the record 

establishes that the gang members who harassed Petitioners were the same ones who 

murdered the nephews. Since the BIA’s nexus determination is supported by the 

record, Petitioners’ claims for asylum and withholding of removal must necessarily 

fail. See Barajas-Romero v. Lynch, 846 F.3d 351, 357–59 (9th Cir. 2017) (recognizing that nexus is a required element for asylum and withholding of removal claims).

Further, Petitioners appear to argue on appeal that they were persecuted by 

gang members on account of their membership in two other particular social groups: 

(1) “Salvadorans who oppose gang recruitment” and (2) “witnesses who testify 

against gang members in El Salvador.” But because Petitioners’ BIA brief did not 

raise these particular social groups, they are unexhausted and we lack jurisdiction to 

consider them. See Abebe v. Mukasey, 554 F.3d 1203, 1208 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc) 
4 

(per curiam) (holding that if a petitioner files a brief with the BIA, he will be 

“deemed to have exhausted only those issues he raised and argued in his brief before 

the BIA”).

Petitioners also raise two other arguments. First, they argue the BIA erred in 

affirming the IJ’s finding that Petitioners failed to establish past persecution. Second, 

they argue the BIA erred in finding that Petitioners failed to show that their “family” 

particular social group was cognizable. We need not address these issues since the 

BIA’s determination on nexus is dispositive of Petitioners’ claims. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (“As a general rule courts and agencies are not required to make findings on issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results 

they reach.”).

PETITION DISMISSED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.