Munoz-Morales v. Garland


Case: 21-60030 Document: 00516382055 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/05/2022 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED July 5, 2022 No. 21-60030 Lyle W. Cayce Summary Calendar Clerk Jeny Joselin Munoz-Morales, Petitioner, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A209 841 349 Before Davis, Jones, and Elrod, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* Jeny Joselin Munoz-Morales, a native and citizen of Honduras, seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing her appeal from the denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Relying * Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.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: 21-60030 Document: 00516382055 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/05/2022 No. 21-60030 on Matter of A-C-A-A-, 28 I. & N. Dec. 84, 89 (A.G. 2020), vacated by Matter of A-C-A-A-, 28 I. & N. Dec. 351 (A.G. 2021), she objects that the BIA adopted the decision of the immigration judge (IJ) without providing “a thorough and proper analysis,” and she seeks a remand for the Board to examine whether the facts found by the IJ established her right to asylum. Because the BIA has had no chance to consider the challenge to the adequacy of its reasons, the issue is unexhausted, and we lack jurisdiction to consider it. See Martinez-Guevara v. Garland, 27 F.4th 353, 359-60 (5th Cir. 2022); Omari v. Holder, 562 F.3d 314, 320 (5th Cir. 2009). With respect to her claims for asylum and withholding of removal, Munoz-Morales also challenges the finding by the IJ, adopted by the BIA, that she failed to establish a nexus between her articulated particular social groups (PSGs) and the alleged persecution. She claimed that she was targeted by a gang leader because she belonged to the PSGs “teenage Honduran females,” “young, single Honduran women,” and “Honduran women targeted for gang recruitment.” There was no evidence, however, that the gang leader was motivated to harm her by her status as a teenage/young, single, Honduran woman. Indeed, she acknowledged that he was motivated by his opinion that she was pretty and his desire for her to be his girlfriend. Moreover, she conceded she was the “only one” of her classmates whom he targeted, though presumably others were also teenage/young, female, single, and Honduran. Evidence that other members of a PSG have not been harmed weighs against a nexus finding. Vazquez- Guerra v. Garland, 7 F.4th 265, 270 (5th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1228 (2022). Additionally, to the extent the gang leader was motivated by the desire to recruit Munoz-Morales to join his gang, “[t]hreats or attacks motivated by criminal intentions do not provide a basis for protection.” Id. at 270. 2 Case: 21-60030 Document: 00516382055 Page: 3 Date Filed: …

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