NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUN 16 2021 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT No. 20-71044 OSCAR ARMANDO DUENAS- ESCOBAR, Agency No. A209-950-310 Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted June 14, 2021** San Francisco, California Before: TASHIMA and BUMATAY, Circuit Judges, and RAYES,*** District Judge. * 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 and grants the parties’ joint motion to submit the case on the briefs. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Douglas L. Rayes, United States District Judge for the District of Arizona, sitting by designation. Petitioner Oscar Duenas-Escobar, a national of El Salvador, entered the United States without valid entry documentation or inspection and was subsequently apprehended by immigration officials. Duenas was charged as removable, but sought asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). After a full merits hearing, the Immigration Judge (IJ) determined that Duenas was ineligible for relief and subject to removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. Duenas petitions for review. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and examine the BIA’s legal conclusions de novo and its factual findings for substantial evidence. Bringas- Rodriguez v. Sessions, 850 F.3d 1051, 1059 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc) (citations omitted). We deny the petition. The BIA did not err in rejecting Duenas’ asylum claim, which alleged a well-founded fear of persecution due to his alleged membership in the particular social group (PSG) of “young Salvadorans who resist corrupt practices of police officers.” Duenas’ proffered PSG is not cognizable because it lacks social distinction. No evidence in the record indicates that Salvadoran society perceives those who resist police corruption as a distinct group. Pirir-Boc v. Holder, 750 F.3d 1077, 1084 (9th Cir. 2014). In addition, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Duenas failed to establish a nexus between the harm suffered and a protected ground. Notably, substantial evidence supports the 2 20-71044 conclusion that the police-harm stemmed from Officer Montes’ personal vendetta against Duenas because of his relationship with Rosa, and that the gang-harm arose from Duenas’s refusal to sell drugs for the 18-street gang. See Pagayon v. Holder, 642 F.3d 1226, 1235 (9th Cir. 2011) (“A personal dispute is not, standing alone, tantamount to persecution based on an imputed political opinion.”). Because Duenas did not meet the lower asylum burden of proof, substantial evidence necessarily supports the BIA’s determination that Duenas did not establish that he would more likely than not suffer persecution in El Salvador on account of a protected ground for withholding of removal purposes. Halaim v. INS, 358 F.3d 1128, 1132 (9th Cir. 2004). Contrary to Duenas’ argument—that the BIA committed harmful error by failing to consider whether Officer Montes …
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