NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 18a0439n.06 No. 18-3032 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Aug 24, 2018 SABINO DEALMONTE-CASTILLO, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) FROM THE UNITED STATES JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, U.S. Attorney ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION General, ) APPEALS ) Respondent. ) ) BEFORE: SILER, MOORE, and ROGERS, Circuit Judges. ROGERS, Circuit Judge. Sabino Dealmonte-Castillo, a citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying his claim for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Dealmonte- Castillo primarily contends that the Board erred in affirming a finding by the Immigration Judge that his testimony to that judge was not credible. Even if were we to agree with Dealmonte-Castillo in this respect, however, his petition faces a more fundamental deficiency. The relief that he seeks requires him to prove both membership in a distinct social group and a fear of persecution because of his membership in that social group. But we have repeatedly determined that Dealmonte- Castillo’s claimed social group—Mexicans who have spent time in the United States—does not so qualify as a distinct social group for purposes of a claim under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and substantial evidence supports the Board’s determination that Dealmonte-Castillo was not No. 18-3032, Dealmonte-Castillo v. Sessions persecuted based on this status. Because Dealmonte-Castillo’s claims necessarily fail along with his inability to make this required showing, our analysis ends at this first step. Dealmonte-Castillo is a citizen of Mexico who first illegally entered the United States in 2003. He was discovered while in the United States because he had claimed the identity of another person in the United States, been caught using that fake identity, and been convicted of possessing a fake passport and a fake social security card. Dealmonte-Castillo agreed to voluntary removal to Mexico in 2012. Dealmonte-Castillo then re-entered the United States in 2013, was apprehended, and the removal proceeding at issue here commenced. During proceedings before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Dealmonte-Castillo testified that, during his 2013 return to Matamoros, Mexico, he had been approached by members of the Golf Cartel, who requested that he work for them, an invitation that he declined. Dealmonte-Castillo claimed that the gang members approached him because “he could manage dollars, had lived in the United States,” and, the cartel thought that “he could mix in with American culture.” Dealmonte-Castillo alleges that Mexicans who have spent time in the United States, so-called “pochos,” represent a distinctive subset in Mexican society by virtue of their dress, diet, and accent. Dealmonte-Castillo also contends that the Golf Cartel was aware of his status as a “pocho” and sought to make use of him. He testified that, after his refusal to work for them, he was kidnapped by gang members for a period of about two weeks, during which time he was threatened with harm if he did not agree to work for ...
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