Court Opinion

ID: 9407196
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-06 00:00:39.828185+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:36.030502
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60572        Document: 00516809668             Page: 1      Date Filed: 07/05/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit

                                      No. 22-60572                                    FILED
                                                                                     July 5, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                    ____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                      Clerk
   Ewlin Marilu Mejia-Carvajal; Lindsay Orellana-Mejia;
   Said Magdiel Orellana-Mejia,

                                                                               Petitioners,

                                            versus

   Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                               Respondent.
                     ______________________________

                        Petition for Review of an Order of the
                            Board of Immigration Appeals
                             Agency Nos. A209 127 437,
                             A209 127 438, A209 127 439
                     ______________________________

   Before Barksdale, Higginson, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Ewlin Marilu Mejia-Carvajal, a native and citizen of Honduras,
   petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissing
   her appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of her application for
   asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention
         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-60572        Document: 00516809668        Page: 2   Date Filed: 07/05/2023

                                    No. 22-60572

   Against Torture (CAT). (Her minor children, Lindsay Jireth Orellana-Mejia
   and Said Magdiel Orellana-Mejia, are included in her application.)
            Mejia contends she demonstrated the requisite nexus between her
   suffered and feared harm and a protected basis. (Because she fails to
   challenge being denied withholding of removal and protection under CAT,
   she abandoned any challenge she may have on that basis. E.g., Soadjede v.
   Ashcroft, 324 F.3d 830, 833 (5th Cir. 2003).)
            We review the BIA’s decision and consider the IJ’s decision only to
   the extent it influenced the BIA. E.g., Singh v. Sessions, 880 F.3d 220, 224
   (5th Cir. 2018). Factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence; legal
   conclusions, de novo. Lopez-Gomez v. Ashcroft, 263 F.3d 442, 444 (5th Cir.
   2001).      Under the substantial-evidence standard, petitioner must
   demonstrate “the evidence is so compelling that no reasonable factfinder
   could reach a contrary conclusion”. Chen v. Gonzales, 470 F.3d 1131, 1134
   (5th Cir. 2006).
            In denying asylum, the BIA determined Mejia failed to show the
   requisite nexus between any past or feared harm and her claimed protected
   grounds: her imputed anti-gang political opinion; and membership in a
   particular social group based on her family relationship to her father. She had
   the burden of establishing she suffered persecution or had a “well-founded
   fear of persecution on account of” a protected ground. Cantarero-Lagos v.
   Barr, 924 F.3d 145, 149 (5th Cir. 2019). Although the “protected ground
   need not be the only reason for harm, it cannot be incidental, tangential,
   superficial, or subordinate to another reason for harm”. Cabrera v. Sessions,
   890 F.3d 153, 159 (5th Cir. 2018) (citation omitted).
            Mejia maintains an anti-gang political opinion was imputed to her
   when she refused extortion demands from gang members; but she fails to
   show the gang was motivated by anything other than economic extortion.

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Case: 22-60572      Document: 00516809668          Page: 3   Date Filed: 07/05/2023

                                    No. 22-60572

   E.g., Martinez-Lopez v. Barr, 943 F.3d 766, 769, 771–72 (5th Cir. 2019); Singh
   v. Barr, 920 F.3d 255, 259 (5th Cir. 2019) (“Extortion is not a cognizable form
   of persecution under immigration law.”).
          Likewise, the record does not compel finding Mejia would be targeted
   based on her relationship to her father. E.g., Martinez-Lopez, 943 F.3d at 769;
   Cabrera, 890 F.3d at 159–60 (“To show a well-founded fear of persecution,
   an alien must have subjective fear of persecution, and that fear must be
   objectively reasonable.”). The record reflects: Mejia’s father entered
   politics in 2010; she was not targeted by gang members until 2016; and, even
   though her father is still politically active in his hometown, he has not been
   physically harmed by gang members.
          DENIED.

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