Court Opinion

ID: 9405721
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-29 00:00:33.113097+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:23.930144
License: Public Domain

Case: 21-60717        Document: 00516803474             Page: 1      Date Filed: 06/28/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                     United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                              Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 21-60717
                                    Summary Calendar                                        FILED
                                                                                        June 28, 2023
                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   Normandina Yolanda Menocal-Bardales; Ely Lizbeth Clerk
   Bardales-Menocal,

                                                                               Petitioners,

                                            versus

   Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                               Respondent.

                          Petition for Review of an Order of the
                              Board of Immigration Appeals
                                Agency No. A208 150 592
                                Agency No. A208 150 593

   Before King, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Normandina Yolanda Menocal-Bardales, a native and citizen of
   Honduras, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration
   Appeals (BIA) dismissing her appeal from an order of the Immigration Judge
   (IJ) denying her application for asylum and denying protection under the

         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 21-60717         Document: 00516803474              Page: 2      Date Filed: 06/28/2023

                                          No. 21-60717

   Convention Against Torture (CAT). 1 “We have authority to review only the
   decision of the BIA, not the IJ, unless the IJ’s decision influenced the BIA’s
   decision.” Singh v. Sessions, 880 F.3d 220, 224 (5th Cir. 2018). We review
   the BIA’s decision for substantial evidence, reversing only if “the evidence
   is so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could reach a contrary
   conclusion.” Gjetani v. Barr, 968 F.3d 393, 396 (5th Cir. 2020) (internal
   quotation marks and citation omitted).
          Menocal-Bardales argues that neither the IJ nor the BIA gave an
   adequate explanation for their respective decisions denying asylum. We
   disagree. Both decisions sufficiently “reflect meaningful consideration of the
   relevant substantial evidence.” Abdel-Masieh v. U.S. I.N.S., 73 F.3d 579, 585
   (5th Cir. 1996). On the merits, Menocal-Bardales does not challenge the
   BIA’s determinations that she failed to establish past persecution and failed
   to establish a nexus between the harm alleged and her asserted particular
   social groups. She has therefore abandoned any such claims, and we need not
   address them. Sharma v. Holder, 729 F.3d 407, 411 n.1 (5th Cir. 2013).
          Regarding her CAT claim, Menocal-Bardales fails to show that the
   evidence compels the conclusion that she more likely than not would be
   tortured if repatriated. See Chen v. Gonzales, 470 F.3d 1131, 1140-41 (5th Cir.
   2006); Ramirez-Mejia v. Lynch, 794 F.3d 485, 493 (5th Cir. 2015). And while
   Menocal-Bardales again argues that the IJ and the BIA did not sufficiently
   analyze the evidence relating to the possibility of future torture, we again
   disagree. Both decisions “reflect meaningful consideration” of the evidence
   related to Menocal-Bardales’s CAT claim. Abdel-Masieh, 73 F.3d at 585. The
   petition for review is DENIED.

          1
              Menocal-Bardales’s minor daughter is a derivative applicant on the application.

                                                2