Court Opinion

ID: 9363198
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-13 18:57:54.213692+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:29.924334
License: Public Domain

FILED
                             NOT FOR PUBLICATION
                                                                               DEC 27 2022
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                         MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                            U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

                             FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

MIGUEL SOLIS-JARAMILLO,                          No. 21-70782

              Petitioner,                        Agency No. A075-762-357

 v.
                                                 MEMORANDUM*
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney
General,

              Respondent.

                     On Petition for Review of an Order of the
                         Board of Immigration Appeals

                            Submitted November 18, 2022**
                                Pasadena, California

Before: WARDLAW and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges, and KENNELLY,***
District Judge.

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
      ***
            The Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly, United States District Judge for
the Northern District of Illinois, sitting by designation.
      Petitioner Miguel Solis-Jaramillo, a native and citizen of Mexico, seeks

review of an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision affirming an asylum officer’s

negative reasonable fear determination. We deny Solis-Jaramillo’s petition.

      In September 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”)

reinstated Solis-Jaramillo’s 2001 order of removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C.

§ 1231(a)(5). Because Solis-Jaramillo expressed a fear of returning to Mexico, he

was referred to an asylum officer for a reasonable fear determination. Solis-

Jaramillo sought review by an IJ of the asylum officer’s negative reasonable fear

determination, as provided by 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.31(g) and 1208.31(g).

      We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1) because the IJ’s agreement

with the negative reasonable fear determination rendered Solis-Jaramillo’s

reinstatement order final. See Andrade-Garcia v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 829, 836 (9th

Cir. 2016). We review an IJ’s negative reasonable fear determination for

substantial evidence. See id.

      Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s determination that Solis-Jaramillo

failed to establish a “a reasonable possibility that [he] would be persecuted on

account of [his] race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group

or political opinion.” 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.31(c), 1208.31(c). To demonstrate

persecution, Solis-Jaramillo must establish that (1) his “treatment rises to the level

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of persecution;” (2) “the persecution was committed by the government, or by

forces that the government was unable or unwilling to control” and (3) “the

persecution was on account of one or more protected grounds.” Kaur v. Wilkinson,

986 F.3d 1216, 1221 (9th Cir. 2021) (quoting Bringas-Rodriguez v. Sessions, 850

F.3d 1051, 1062 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc)). Solis-Jaramillo contends that the

Familia Michoacana cartel threatened and extorted him and his family. Solis-

Jaramillo’s claim fails because the IJ reasonably found no nexus between the

cartel’s mistreatment and Solis-Jaramillo’s membership in “a particular social

group.” See 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.31(c), 1208.31(c). The IJ reasonably concluded that

the cartel targeted Solis-Jaramillo because of his family’s wealth, not because he

belonged to a cognizable particular social group.

      Substantial evidence also supports the IJ’s negative determination as to the

reasonable fear of torture. The label “torture” is “reserved for extreme cruel and

inhuman treatment that results in severe pain or suffering.” Tzompantzi-Salazar v.

Garland, 32 F.4th 696, 706 (9th Cir. 2022). The IJ reasonably concluded that the

cartel’s mistreatment did not rise to the level of torture. Additionally, the IJ

reasonably found that Solis-Jaramillo could safely relocate to a different part of

Mexico where the Familia Michoacana cartel does not operate. Solis-Jaramillo did

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not offer evidence demonstrating that the cartel would target him in a different part

of Mexico.

      PETITION DENIED.

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