Case Name: Manuel De Jesus Garcia ORTIZ Petitioner v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General of the United States Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2018-02-26
Citations: 712 F. App'x 589
Docket Number: No. 17-1252
Parties: Manuel De Jesus Garcia ORTIZ Petitioner v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General of the United States Respondent
Judges: Before LOKEN, KELLY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 712
Pages: 589–590

Head Matter:
Manuel De Jesus Garcia ORTIZ Petitioner v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General of the United States Respondent
No. 17-1252
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: February 20, 2017
Filed: February 26, 2018
Joseph Lopez Wilson, Omaha, NE, for Petitioner
Juria L. Jones, Scott Michael Marconda, Trial Attorney, Carl H. McIntyre, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Respondent
Before LOKEN, KELLY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Guatemalan citizen Manuel Garcia Ortiz petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal from the decision of an immigration judge (IJ), which denied him asylum and withholding of removal. Ortiz sought immigration relief based on his membership in the particular social group "former members of the military suffering gang threats and violence due to nonin-volvement in their criminal behavior."
After careful consideration of Ortiz's arguments and the record, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the finding that he failed to show past persecution in Guatemala, a well-founded fear of future persecution there, or a clear probability of future persecution there, due to. one of the five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(i); De Castro-Gutierrez v. Holder, 713 F.3d 375, 379 (8th Cir. 2013) (standard of review); Matul-Hernandez v. Holder, 685 F.3d 707, 711-13 (8th Cir. 2012). Specifically, we determine that: (1) Ortiz's proposed group does not constitute a particular social group, see Gaitan v. Holder, 671 F.3d 678, 682 (8th Cir. 2012); (2) to the extent Ortiz feared general violence in Guatemala, his fear was not based on a protected ground, see Al Yatim v. Mukasey, 531 F.3d 584, 588-89 (8th Cir. 2008); and (3) he did not establish that the Guatemalan government was unable or un willing to control the private actors he fears, see Gutierrez-Vidal v. Holder, 709 F.3d 728, 732 (8th Cir. 2013).
The petition is denied. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
. The IJ's denial of relief under the Convention Against Torture is not on appeal. See Chay-Velasquez v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 751, 756 (8th Cir. 2004).