NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 19-1816 ___________ JAVIER ROJAS-MERCADO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A216-371-699) Immigration Judge: Alice S. Hartye ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) November 26, 2019 Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, JR., and PORTER, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: January 8, 2020) ___________ OPINION* ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Javier Rojas-Mercado petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which dismissed his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) removal order. We will deny the petition for review. Rojas-Mercado is a citizen of Mexico. He entered the United States without inspection in 2006. In July 2018, he was convicted of theft by unlawful taking in violation of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 3921 and was sentenced to 23 months of imprisonment. Rojas-Mercado was served a Notice to Appear (“NTA”), charging him with being removable pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) as an alien present in the United States without admission or parole. The NTA did not charge him with removability on the basis of his conviction, and it did not include a time and date to appear before the IJ. Rojas-Mercado, who appeared pro se before the IJ, admitted the factual allegations and charge of removal, and the IJ sustained the removability charges. Rojas-Mercado then applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). He sought such relief based on the fear of future harm and persecution in Mexico. When Rojas-Mercado was 11 years old and still living in Puebla, Mexico, he was beat up by school-children (some older than he) because they were upset that his mother did not vote for a specific politician. The beating lasted about three minutes and was reported to the school but not the police. His siblings were also bothered by these individuals for the same reason but relocated to another part of the city and did not have 2 any issues thereafter. Rojas-Mercado encountered some of the same individuals almost a decade later while at a soccer game in Delaware. A fight ensued, and Rojas-Mercado reported the altercation to the police. The police, however, did not investigate the incident. He fears that the same individuals, or their family members, will harm him if he is removed to Mexico. The IJ found Rojas-Mercado credible, but denied his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the CAT. The IJ construed his asylum arguments1 as a claim that he feared persecution on account of his membership in the particular social group (“PSG”) comprised of the Rojas-Mercado family. The IJ rejected Rojas-Mercado’s assertion that his experiences in Mexico rose to the level of persecution. In addition, the IJ concluded that Rojas-Mercado had supplied insufficient evidence to substantiate ...
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