Case: 18-13376 Date Filed: 06/05/2019 Page: 1 of 10 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-13376 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A209-386-785 ALICIA BERENICE TOSAR-CEDENO, DIANA SOPHIA TOSAR-CEDENO, Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (June 5, 2019) Before MARCUS, ROSENBAUM, and BRANCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 18-13376 Date Filed: 06/05/2019 Page: 2 of 10 Alicia Berenice Tosar-Cedeno, a native and citizen of Venezuela, and her daughter, Diana Sophia Tosar-Cedeno, seek review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) order denying Tosar-Cedeno’s application for asylum and withholding of removal. Tosar-Cedeno argues that the record compels a finding that the mistreatment she suffered in Venezuela amounted to persecution, and that she suffered that mistreatment on account of her political opinion. We disagree and, accordingly, deny her petition for review. I. Tosar-Cedeno and her daughter applied for admission to the United States at a port of entry on the Mexican border in August 2016. The government immediately began removal proceedings on the ground that she lacked a visa or valid entry document. She conceded that she was subject to removal and applied for asylum and withholding of removal. 1 The IJ presided over a merits hearing on her application in August 2017, at which she was represented by counsel. At the merits hearing, Tosar-Cedeno testified that she feared returning to Venezuela because she believes that she had been harmed and would be targeted for harm in the future based on her political opinion. According to Tosar-Cedeno, 1 Tosar-Cedeno also applied for relief under the Convention Against Torture, but she does not address the denial of this application in her briefing to this Court. Accordingly, we deem this issue abandoned. 2 Case: 18-13376 Date Filed: 06/05/2019 Page: 3 of 10 she began participating in antigovernment political rallies in 2014. She and the company she worked for, Preincar01 (“Preincar”), offered assistance to participants in the rallies, including snacks and sometimes shelter for those who were being sought after by police. In her testimony, she described two main incidents that she believed were connected to her participation in the rallies. The first incident occurred in February or March of 2016. Tosar-Cedeno and her baby daughter were attending a family reunion at her mother’s house, when 20 “collectivos”—a group of people who, according to Tosar-Cedeno, were armed by the government and trained to harass and attack others—showed up on 10 motorcycles and began harassing her. Two collectivos disembarked and approached her on foot, while the other collectivos continued on their way. The two collectivos pushed her and grabbed her harm and tried to take her daughter from her. She was able to escape by jumping into a nearby car, and her father and brother intervened to protect her. She stated that she did not know why the collectivos tried to take her daughter, but she believed ...
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