Court Opinion

ID: 9966327
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-05-06 18:00:44.252797+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:24:46.592831
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-60476           Document: 36-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 05/06/2024

          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit
                                  ____________
                                                                            United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                     Fifth Circuit
                                   No. 23-60476
                                 Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                 ____________                                     May 6, 2024
                                                                              Lyle W. Cayce
Reina Maria Gamoneda-Romero,                                                       Clerk

                                                                              Petitioner,

                                         versus

Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                            Respondent.
                  ______________________________

                     Petition for Review of an Order of the
                         Board of Immigration Appeals
                           Agency No. A201 405 524
                  ______________________________

Before Barksdale, Graves, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
      Reina Maria Gamoneda-Romero, a native and citizen of Honduras,
petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) order
dismissing her appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of: asylum,
withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against
Torture (CAT).

      _____________________
      *
          This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-60476        Document: 36-1       Page: 2    Date Filed: 05/06/2024

                                 No. 23-60476

       Our court reviews the BIA’s decision and considers 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). The denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT
relief are reviewed for substantial evidence. E.g., Zhang v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d
339, 344 (5th Cir. 2005). Under that standard, “reversal is improper unless
we decide not only that the evidence supports a contrary conclusion, but
[also] that the evidence compels it”. Id. (alteration and emphasis in original)
(citation omitted).
       On Gamoneda’s asylum and withholding-of-removal claims, the BIA
concluded she did not show the requisite nexus between her alleged
persecution and proposed particular social group (PSG). See, e.g., Jaco v.
Garland, 24 F.4th 395, 402 (5th Cir. 2021) (explaining “an applicant for
asylum or withholding of removal must [show]”, inter alia, “a nexus between
the persecution and her membership in the [PSG]”). Gamoneda’s proposed
PSG is “single woman from Honduras with child unprotected”. She did not
present evidence, however, compelling the conclusion that the motorcyclist
crashed into her son and targeted her on account of her proposed PSG. See,
e.g., Martinez-De Umana v. Garland, 82 F.4th 303, 312 (5th Cir. 2023)
(“[C]onduct that is driven by criminal . . . motives does not constitute
persecution on account of a protected ground”. (second alteration in
original) (citation omitted)).
       Gamoneda’s CAT-claim challenge likewise fails because she has not
shown she will, more likely than not, be tortured with governmental
acquiescence if repatriated. See, e.g., Morales v. Sessions, 860 F.3d 812, 818
(5th Cir. 2017) (“[T]he United States may not remove an alien to a country
in which the alien is more likely than not to be tortured . . . by, or with the
acquiescence of, a public official”. (citation omitted)). Instead, she only
provides evidence that violence by gang members against women in
Honduras is prevalent. See Qorane v. Barr, 919 F.3d 904, 911 (5th Cir. 2019)

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Case: 23-60476        Document: 36-1       Page: 3    Date Filed: 05/06/2024

                                 No. 23-60476

(“Generalized country evidence tells [our court] little about the likelihood
state actors will torture any particular person”.).
       DENIED.

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