Court Opinion

ID: 9891767
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-19 17:00:45.91042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:59:40.856422
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                          FILED
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                       OCT 19 2023
                                                                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                       U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                            FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

DIXI ALEYDA VELASQUEZ; et al.,                  No. 22-665
                                                Agency Nos.
             Petitioners,                       A212-988-616
                                                A212-988-614
 v.
                                                A212-988-615
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney
General,                                        MEMORANDUM*

             Respondent.

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

                            Submitted October 10, 2023**

Before:      S.R. THOMAS, McKEOWN, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.

      Dixi Aleyda Velasquez and her two children, natives and citizens of El

Salvador, petition pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”)

order dismissing their appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ’s”) decision

denying their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection

      *
             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).
under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under

8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings.

Conde Quevedo v. Barr, 947 F.3d 1238, 1241 (9th Cir. 2020). We grant in part,

deny in part, and remand the petition for review.

      The BIA denied asylum and withholding of removal on the basis that

petitioners failed to establish a nexus to their family-based particular social group.

Substantial evidence does not support that determination. See, e.g., Parada v.

Sessions, 902 F.3d 901, 910-11 (9th Cir. 2018) (evidence that applicant was

persecuted in retaliation for his brother’s conduct established nexus to family as a

protected ground); Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 741 (9th Cir. 2009) (an

asylum applicant establishes that a protected ground was “one central reason” for

persecution where the persecutor would not have harmed the applicant absent that

motive); see also Barajas-Romero v. Lynch, 846 F.3d 351, 359-60 (9th Cir. 2017)

(the less demanding “a reason” standard applies to withholding of removal claims).

      Additionally, the BIA stated it found no clear error in the IJ’s finding that

petitioners did not establish that any past or feared harm was or would be on

account of a protected ground. Subsequent to the BIA’s decision and the briefing

in this case, this court held “the BIA must review de novo whether a persecutor’s

motives meet the nexus legal standards.” Umana-Escobar v. Garland, 69 F.4th

544, 552 (9th Cir. 2023).

                                         2                                     22-665
      Thus, we grant the petition for review in part and remand petitioners’ asylum

and withholding of removal claims to the agency for any necessary further

proceedings consistent with this disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-

18 (2002) (per curiam).

      Because petitioners do not challenge the agency’s denial of CAT protection,

we do not address it. See Lopez-Vasquez v. Holder, 706 F.3d 1072, 1079-80 (9th

Cir. 2013).

      Each party shall bear its own costs for this petition for review.

      PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED in part; DENIED in part;

REMANDED.

                                        3                                   22-665