UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-1417 FREDIS ALDAIR ARGUETA ROMERO, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: March 11, 2022 Decided: March 29, 2022 Before WILKINSON, KING, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. ON BRIEF: Benjamin J. Osorio, MURRAY OSORIO PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Petitioner. Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Sabatino F. Leo, Assistant Director, Greg D. Mack, Senior Litigation Counsel, Corey L. Farrell, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Fredis Argueta Romero challenges the denial of his application for asylum based on the Board of Immigration Appeals’ holding that former MS-13 gang members who left the gang without permission and Salvadoran males with MS-13 tattoos did not constitute cognizable particular social groups under the Immigration and Nationality Act. For the following reasons, we find his challenge unpersuasive and deny the petition. I. Romero is a native of El Salvador who unlawfully entered the United States in 2013 at the age of fourteen. Following Romero’s arrest in Washington, D.C., in 2017 for a criminal charge (which was ultimately dismissed), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice to Appear and initiated removal proceedings because Romero was “an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled” in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Romero conceded removability but applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). At a hearing before an Immigration Judge (IJ), Romero testified that in El Salvador at the age of twelve or thirteen, he was forced to join the MS-13 gang and to get gang- related tattoos. He testified that he left the gang without permission about a year later to avoid being forced to harm or kill anyone. According to Romero, MS-13 targets and kills people who leave the gang without permission and their family members. Romero presented testimony and documentary evidence that some members of his family had been killed by gang violence in El Salvador and that he would be likewise targeted if he returned to the country. Accordingly, Romero sought asylum on the grounds that he was persecuted 2 on account of his membership in a particular social group, namely “former MS-13 gang members who left the gang without permission” or “Salvadoran males with MS-13 tattoos.” The IJ granted Romero’s application for asylum and reserved decision on his withholding of removal and CAT claims. The IJ found all witnesses credible and held that Romero established a well-founded fear of persecution based on the evidence. The IJ also held that both of Romero’s proposed particular social groups were legally cognizable, that Romero had established a nexus between the groups and his persecution, and that the El Salvador government was unwilling …
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