Darlin Alfaro-Urbina v. William P. Barr


NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0274n.06 No. 19-3726 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT May 14, 2020 DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk DARLIN EMERITA ALFARO-URBINA; ) LIAM EDGARDO ZELAYA-ALFARO, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW Petitioners, ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION v. ) APPEALS ) WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, ) ) OPINION Respondent. ) ) Before: CLAY, COOK, and WHITE, Circuit Judges. CLAY, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Darlin Alfaro-Urbina, on behalf of herself and her minor child, asks this Court to review the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s order denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158, 1231(b)(3); 8 C.F.R. 1208.16(c). For the reasons that follow, we deny the petition for review. I. BACKGROUND Alfaro-Urbina and her child are citizens of Honduras. They entered the United States in August 2015 and were apprehended by border patrol officers that same day. Alfaro-Urbina was then referred for a credible fear interview. During the interview, she reported that she owned a grocery store in Honduras. She said that she had been operating the store for only one month when she was extorted for money by gang members. The gang members came to her store, asked for No. 19-3726, Darlin Alfaro-Urbina, et al. v. William P. Barr 100,000 lempiras, and said that if she did not pay, they would kill her and her child. When making this threat, they pointed a gun at her child’s head. Alfaro-Urbina did not pay what the gang members requested because she did not have enough money. She reported the extortion to the Honduran police, but the police were not able to locate the gang members. Fearing for her life and the life of her child, she closed her store and fled to the United States. Based on these statements, the asylum officer found that Alfaro-Urbina had a credible fear of persecution. Later that day, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued Alfaro-Urbina a notice to appear for removal proceedings, charging her and her child with applying for admission without valid travel documents. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i). Alfaro-Urbina conceded removability and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158, 1231(b)(3); 8 C.F.R. 1208.16(c). Alfaro-Urbina’s application for asylum and withholding of removal was based on her fear of persecution for “[m]embership in a particular social group.” See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B) (“To establish that the applicant is a refugee . . . the applicant must establish that race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting the applicant.”); id. § 1231(b)(3)(A) (“[T]he Attorney General may not remove an alien to a country if the Attorney General decides that the alien’s life or freedom would be threatened in that country because of the alien’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or ...

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