Court Opinion

ID: 9380233
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-17 18:00:33.857879+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:23.634559
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60451        Document: 00516680353             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/17/2023

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

                                     ____________                              FILED
                                                                         March 17, 2023
                                      No. 22-60451                        Lyle W. Cayce
                                    Summary Calendar                           Clerk
                                    ____________

   Maria Elizabeth Melgar-Ortiz; Esmeralda Del Carmen
   Gutierrez-Melgar; Noel Antonio Gutierrez-Melgar,

                                                                                 Petitioners,

                                            versus

   Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                                Respondent.
                     ______________________________

                        Petition for Review of an Order of the
                            Board of Immigration Appeals
                              Agency No. A209 436 967
                              Agency No. A209 436 968
                              Agency No. A209 436 969
                     ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Maria Elizabeth Melgar-Ortiz, a native and citizen of El Salvador,
   petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, or
   “BIA.” The decision dismissed her appeal from an order of an Immigration

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-60451        Document: 00516680353             Page: 2      Date Filed: 03/17/2023

                                         No. 22-60451

   Judge (“IJ”) denying her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and
   protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).1 Because we
   review the BIA’s decision concerning asylum, withholding, and CAT relief
   for substantial evidence, we may not disturb this decision unless the evidence
   “compels” a contrary conclusion. Zhang v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 339, 344 (5th
   Cir. 2005) (quotation marks and citations omitted; emphasis in original).
             This standard has not been met. Melgar-Ortiz shows no error in
   connection with the BIA’s determination that her proposed particular social
   groups were not cognizable. A particular social group must be socially
   distinct. Gonzales-Veliz v. Barr, 938 F.3d 219, 229 (5th Cir. 2019). In
   addition, a particular social group must be more than one person. Martinez
   Manzanares v. Barr, 925 F.3d 222, 227 (5th Cir. 2019). She thus fails to show
   that the evidence compels a conclusion contrary to that of the BIA on the
   issue whether she was eligible for asylum or withholding. Because an
   applicant for asylum or withholding of removal must first show membership
   in a relevant social group, Jaco v. Garland, 24 F.4th 395, 402 (5th Cir. 2021),
   we need not consider her remaining arguments concerning these forms of
   relief.
             Her CAT arguments fail because they do not show that the evidence
   compels a conclusion contrary to that of the BIA on the issue whether she
   more likely than not will be tortured if repatriated. See Morales v. Sessions,
   860 F.3d 812, 818 (5th Cir. 2017). The petition for review is DENIED.

             _____________________
             1
            Melgar-Ortiz is the mother of the other two petitioners here, who are derivatives
   on her application.

                                               2