Appellate Case: 21-9516 Document: 010110613933 Date Filed: 12/03/2021 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT December 3, 2021 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court KARLA MARIELA ALDANA- SALGUERO; K.E.M.O.; F.M.O.A., Petitioners, v. No. 21-9516 (Petition for Review) MERRICK B. GARLAND, United States Attorney General, Respondent - Appellee. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________ Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, MORITZ, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Petitioner Karla Mariela Aldana-Salguero moved before the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) to reopen her removal proceedings.1 The Board denied her motion, and she petitions for review of the Board’s decision. We deny her petition. * After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 1 Two of Aldana-Salguero’s minor children are also petitioners. Appellate Case: 21-9516 Document: 010110613933 Date Filed: 12/03/2021 Page: 2 I. Background Petitioner fled her home country, Guatemala, and came to the United States. Immigration officials caught her near the border. In her removal proceedings, she conceded that she is removable and applied for asylum, restriction on removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. To receive asylum, an applicant must be a “refugee.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A). A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of any of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Id. § 1101(a)(42); Rodas-Orellana v. Holder, 780 F.3d 982, 986 (10th Cir. 2015). Restriction on removal prevents the government from removing a noncitizen to a country if his or her “life or freedom would be threatened in that country” based on one of those same five protected grounds. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). Petitioner sought asylum and restriction on removal on the theory that, if she returns to Guatemala, she will suffer persecution based on her membership in a particular social group comprising single mothers.2 Her fear of this persecution stems from two problems she had in Guatemala—a neighbor assaulted her, and gangs extorted her. 2 Initially, Petitioner also sought asylum and restriction on removal based on her nationality, but she later abandoned those claims. 2 Appellate Case: 21-9516 Document: 010110613933 Date Filed: 12/03/2021 Page: 3 Petitioner did not know why her neighbor assaulted her. One day the neighbor knocked on her door. When Petitioner opened the door, the neighbor insulted and assaulted her. The neighbor’s father and son joined in the assault. Petitioner reported the neighbor to the police, …
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