NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 12 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JOSE YUDIEL MEJIA-ROSAS, AKA Jose No. 19-70594 Mejia, AKA Jose Yudiel Mejia, Agency No. A094-372-332 Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted August 10, 2020** Pasadena, California Before: CALLAHAN and BUMATAY, Circuit Judges, and M. WATSON,*** District Judge. After being convicted of robbery and serving a prison sentence, Mejia-Rosas was ordered removed by an immigration judge (“IJ”) for being “an[] alien who is * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Michael H. Watson, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation. convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission” to the country. 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). Mejia-Rosas applied for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). 8 C.F.R. § 1208.17. Although the IJ granted his application, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed on appeal. Mejia-Rosas now petitions this court for review of the Board’s decision. We review a determination of CAT eligibility for substantial evidence, and we will reverse “only if the evidence is so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could have failed to find the requisite likelihood of torture.” Singh v. Ashcroft, 351 F.3d 435, 442 (9th Cir. 2003); see also Lopez v. Sessions, 901 F.3d 1071, 1078 (9th Cir. 2018) (“To qualify for deferral [of removal under the CAT], an alien must establish that he ‘is more likely than not to be tortured.’” (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 1208.17)). Substantial evidence supports the Board’s determination that Mejia-Rosas has failed to carry his burden of proving a likelihood of torture if he is returned to Mexico or El Salvador. Mejia-Rosas’s application was based entirely on the fact that he has tattoos identifying his affiliation with the Norteños, a California-based gang of which he was formerly a member. He argues that there are three groups who are likely to see his tattoos, understand what they signify, and be motivated to torture him as a result: (1) members of his own gang, or a rival gang such as the Sureños; (2) other gangs in Mexico or El Salvador; and/or (3) police or military 2 officials in Mexico and El Salvador. Based on the evidentiary record, we are not compelled to reach a conclusion contrary to the Board’s. 1. No evidence supports Mejia-Rosas’s claims that the Norteños or one of its rivals, such as the Sureños, have a meaningful presence in Mexico or El Salvador or that the Norteños have “strong ties to the cartels in Mexico.” Indeed, when Mejia-Rosas was asked how Norteños gang members (or former members like himself) could be harmed in Mexico, he ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals