Court Opinion

ID: 9389485
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-25 18:01:42.087136+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:27.543086
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60530       Document: 00516724646             Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/25/2023

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

                                    ____________                                FILED
                                                                            April 25, 2023
                                     No. 22-60530                          Lyle W. Cayce
                                   Summary Calendar                             Clerk
                                   ____________

   Yessenia Beatriz Ayala-Soriano,

                                                                                 Petitioner,

                                           versus

   Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,

                                                                               Respondent.
                    ______________________________

                       Petition for Review of an Order of the
                           Board of Immigration Appeals
                             Agency No. A209 218 708
                    ______________________________

   Before Jones, Haynes, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
           Yessenia Beatriz Ayala-Soriano, a native and citizen of El Salvador,
   petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)

           _____________________
           *
              Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion
   should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set
   forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 22-60530      Document: 00516724646          Page: 2   Date Filed: 04/25/2023

                                    No. 22-60530

   upholding the denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal,
   and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
          We review the BIA’s decision and consider the immigration judge’s
   decision only to the extent it influenced the BIA. See Orellana-Monson v.
   Holder, 685 F.3d 511, 517 (5th Cir. 2012). The BIA’s factual determination
   that an individual is not eligible for asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT
   relief is reviewed under the substantial evidence standard. Chen v. Gonzales,
   470 F.3d 1131, 1134 (5th Cir. 2006).
          Ayala-Soriano sought asylum and withholding of removal based on her
   political opinion and membership in a particular social group (PSG). She
   proposed two PSGs: (1) Pentecostal Salvadoran women who oppose or resist
   the authority of the MS-13 and (2) Salvadoran women who report gang-
   related crimes to law enforcement. Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s
   determination that neither is cognizable due to the lack of social distinction.
   The record does not compel the conclusion that the members of the proposed
   PSGs are perceived substantially differently from the general Salvadoran
   population who resist the MS-13 gang or otherwise threaten the gang’s
   interests. See Suate-Orellana v. Barr, 979 F.3d 1056, 1061 (5th Cir. 2020);
   Hernandez-De La Cruz v. Lynch, 819 F.3d 784, 787 (5th Cir. 2016); Orellana-
   Monson, 685 F.3d at 522.
          Additionally, Ayala-Soriano has waived the claims relating to her
   political opinion because her opening brief did not contain any argument
   contesting the issue of political opinion. See Bouchikhi v. Holder, 676 F.3d
   173, 179 (5th Cir. 2012). On the other hand, she argues, for the first time
   here, that she demonstrated persecution on account of her religious views.
   The record reflects that she did not make a claim of asylum or withholding of
   removal based on religion. She also did not raise religion as one of her
   protected grounds in the BIA, and the BIA did not address any such claim.

                                             2
Case: 22-60530        Document: 00516724646        Page: 3    Date Filed: 04/25/2023

                                    No. 22-60530

   Thus, her argument is unexhausted, and we lack jurisdiction to consider it.
   See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1); Hernandez-De La Cruz, 819 F.3d at 786.
          Because Ayala-Soriano has not succeeded regarding her alleged
   protected grounds, we do not reach her argument that withholding of
   removal has a less demanding nexus standard than asylum. Her failure to
   establish eligibility for asylum, as discussed above, necessarily means that she
   also cannot meet the requirements for withholding of removal. See Orellana-
   Monson, 685 F.3d at 518.
          To obtain protection under the CAT, the applicant must demonstrate
   that, in the proposed country of removal, it is more likely than not that she
   would be tortured by, or with the acquiescence of, a public official or other
   person acting in an official capacity. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(1); see Martinez
   Manzanares v. Barr, 925 F.3d 222, 228 (5th Cir. 2019). “Acquiescence by
   the government includes willful blindness of torturous activity.” Gonzales-
   Veliz v. Barr, 938 F.3d 219, 225 (5th Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks and
   citation omitted). As the BIA determined, the fact that the police lacked the
   means to protect Ayala-Soriano from the MS-13 gang did not amount to
   acquiescence. See Gonzales-Veliz, 938 F.3d at 225; Martinez Manzanares,
   925 F.3d at 229. She has not shown that the evidence compels the conclusion
   that any potential torture would entail the requisite state action or
   acquiescence. See Gonzales-Veliz, 938 F.3d at 225; Martinez Manzanares,
   925 F.3d at 229.
          The petition for review is DISMISSED in part for lack of
   jurisdiction and DENIED in all other respects.

                                              3