Diana Cristina Galicia v. Merrick B. Garland


NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 23a0219n.06 No. 22-3650 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED May 09, 2023 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk DIANA CRISTINA GALICIA; FRANK ) EDUARDO GARCIA-GALICIA, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW Petitioners, ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION v. ) APPEALS ) MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, ) OPINION Respondent. ) Before: BOGGS, LARSEN, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Diana Cristina Galicia and her minor son entered the United States unlawfully. After the Department of Homeland Security began removal proceedings, they conceded removability but applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The immigration judge (IJ) and the Board of Immigration (BIA) denied relief. For the reasons stated below, we DENY the petition for review. I. Diana Cristina Galicia and her minor son Frank Eduardo Garcia-Galicia, natives and citizens of Guatemala, entered the United States without inspection in April 2014. The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against them pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i).1 Galicia, through counsel, admitted the factual allegations and conceded 1 Galicia’s son was a derivative beneficiary of her asylum application. We refer to the lead petitioner, Galicia, throughout this opinion. No. 22-3650, Galicia v. Garland removability. She applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT. She claimed membership in three particular social groups: (1) “[f]amily members of gang targets;” (2) “kinship to her brother-in-law;” and (3) “[f]amily members of individuals that have killed a gang member.” The IJ held a hearing on her applications for relief. Galicia testified that she fled Guatemala because a man named Marlon and his gang threated to kill her. The threats, she said, began after a Christmas party in 2013. There, Galicia’s nephew, Freddy Fernando Galicia, attempted to thwart an assault by throwing a bottle at the assailant. But he missed and instead struck a member of Marlon’s gang. Gang members beat Freddy and chased him to Galicia’s house. Galicia let Freddy inside. The gang threw rocks and sticks at the home, breaking windows and threatening to burn the house down if Galicia did not turn Freddy over. Eventually, Galicia’s brother-in-law, Rocael Pelaez, came to her assistance. But before the group left, they threatened to return and kill Galicia because she had helped Freddy. Galicia testified that a day or so later someone threw a rock at her window with a note threatening to rape her son because she had harbored Freddy. She said she received the same threat via text message. A few days later, another rock came through her window with a note threatening to kill her. Galicia believed Marlon was behind these threats. Galicia said she called the police, but they didn’t respond. She explained that she didn’t believe the police would help her because her town was “pretty abandoned” and “whatever could happen there, and [the police] would never—they never arrive.” Galicia stayed with neighbors or family for the next three weeks. …

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