Court Opinion

ID: 9548243
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:00:31.523021+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:24:35.184929
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-60036        Document: 00516848162             Page: 1      Date Filed: 08/07/2023

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

                                                                                      FILED
                                      No. 23-60036                               August 7, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                                                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                    ____________
                                                                                      Clerk

   Miriam Marisela Guardado-Carias; Gabriel Alejando
   Soriano-Guardado,

                                                                               Petitioners,

                                            versus

   Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                               Respondent.
                     ______________________________

                        Petition for Review of an Order of the
                            Board of Immigration Appeals
                             Agency Nos. A206 803 929,
                                     A206 803 930
                     ______________________________

   Before Barksdale, Southwick and Graves, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Miriam Marisela Guardado-Carias, a native and citizen of Honduras,
   petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissing
   her appeal from an order of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying asylum,
   withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against
         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-60036      Document: 00516848162             Page: 2   Date Filed: 08/07/2023

                                       No. 23-60036

   Torture (CAT).      (Her son, Gabriel Alejando Soriano-Guardado, is a
   derivative beneficiary on her application.)
          We review the BIA’s decision, considering the IJ’s decision only to
   the extent it influenced the BIA. Munoz-Granados v. Barr, 958 F.3d 402, 406
   (5th Cir. 2020). Factual determinations that an alien is ineligible for asylum,
   withholding of removal, or CAT protection are reviewed for substantial
   evidence. Zhang v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 339, 344 (5th Cir. 2005). Under that
   standard, Guardado “must show that the evidence was so compelling that no
   reasonable factfinder could conclude against it”. Carbajal-Gonzalez v. INS,
   78 F.3d 194, 197 (5th Cir. 1996).
          Regarding asylum, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s
   determination that Guardado failed to demonstrate past persecution or a
   well-founded fear of persecution.
          For past persecution vel non, the threats recounted by Guardado were
   vague and lacked immediacy and were therefore insufficient to constitute
   persecution. See Munoz-Granados, 958 F.3d at 407. The evidence does not
   compel the conclusion that the past harm rose to the level of persecution. See
   id.; Qorane v. Barr, 919 F.3d 904, 910 (5th Cir. 2019); see also Ramirez-Mejia
   v. Lynch, 794 F.3d 485, 493 (5th Cir. 2015) (providing economic extortion is
   not a recognized form of persecution).
          Unable to show past persecution, she had the burden of establishing a
   well-founded fear of persecution, including that relocation within her home
   country would be unreasonable. Munoz-Granados, 958 F.3d at 407; 8 C.F.R.
   § 208.13(b)(2)(ii), (b)(3). The record shows the threatening conduct relating
   to the death of a cousin ceased after Guardado’s family relocated to live with
   Guardado’s sister. The decision to move away from the sister’s
   neighborhood due to general fear of gangs is insufficient to satisfy her burden
   regarding relocation. See Munoz-Granados, 958 F.3d at 408 (“[A] fear of

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Case: 23-60036       Document: 00516848162          Page: 3    Date Filed: 08/07/2023

                                     No. 23-60036

   general violence and civil disorder is not sufficient to support a fear of future
   persecution”.).
          Additionally, when Guardado’s husband was subjected to monetary
   extortion years later in a different city, the family did not attempt to relocate
   within Honduras before leaving for the United States. Guardado presented
   no evidence of further harm to her family during their remaining time in
   Honduras or that any relatives still in Honduras were being harmed. She fails
   to show the evidence compels a determination that relocation would be
   unreasonable.
          Therefore, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s relocation finding
   and its denial of asylum. See id. at 407–08; Cruz v. Barr, 929 F.3d 304, 309–
   10 (5th Cir. 2019). And, because she fails to demonstrate eligibility for
   asylum, she cannot satisfy the higher burden for withholding of removal. See
   Munoz-Granados, 958 F.3d at 408.
          Finally, for CAT protection, Guardado had to show it is more likely
   than not she would be tortured in Honduras by, or with the acquiescence of,
   a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. 8 C.F.R.
   § 208.18(a)(1). Given that the claimed harm did not rise to the level of
   persecution, it follows that it does not meet the higher bar of torture. E.g.,
   Munoz-Granados, 958 F.3d at 408; Qorane, 919 F.3d at 911. Therefore,
   substantial evidence supports the denial of CAT relief.
          DENIED.

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