NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 19a0047n.06 No. 18-3630 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED ALEJANDRA ISABEL VELASQUEZ- ) Jan 29, 2019 RODRIGUEZ; G.A.V.R., ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioners, ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) FROM THE UNITED STATES v. ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION ) APPEALS MATTHEW G. WHITAKER, Acting ) Attorney General, ) ) Respondent. ) BEFORE: GRIFFIN, WHITE, and BUSH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. Alejandra Isabel Velasquez-Rodriguez and her minor daughter petition this court for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing their appeal from the denial of their applications for asylum and withholding of removal. As set forth below, we DENY the petition for review. On December 12, 2015, Velasquez-Rodriguez and her daughter, both natives and citizens of Guatemala, entered the United States without being admitted or paroled. Upon their detention in Texas, the Department of Homeland Security served Velasquez-Rodriguez and her daughter with notices to appear in removal proceedings, charging them with removability as aliens lacking valid entry or travel documents when they sought admission to the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). On June 20, 2016, Velasquez-Rodriguez and her daughter appeared before No. 18-3630, Velasquez-Rodriguez v. Whitaker the immigration court for a Master Calendar Hearing, admitted the factual allegations set forth in the notices to appear, and conceded removability as charged. Velasquez-Rodriguez filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), seeking relief based on her membership in a particular social group and listing her daughter as a derivative beneficiary. Velasquez- Rodriguez alleged that Juan Carlos Ramirez Perez, her former partner and the father of her daughter, subjected her to physical and mental abuse and confined her to their one-room house, and that he will abuse and confine her again if she returns to Guatemala. In a trial brief, Velasquez- Rodriguez asserted her membership in two social groups: (1) Guatemalan women viewed as property by virtue of their position in a domestic relationship and (2) Guatemalan women unable to leave a domestic relationship. At the merits hearing before the immigration judge (IJ), Velasquez-Rodriguez testified about her abusive relationship with Ramirez Perez. The relationship began around September 2010 when Velasquez-Rodriguez was seventeen years old and lasted for a year and two months. About eight months into their relationship, Ramirez Perez began to physically and sexually abuse Velasquez-Rodriguez. The abuse, which occurred four or five times a week, left Velasquez- Rodriguez with bruises, scars, and a broken leg. According to Velasquez-Rodriguez, Ramirez Perez treated her like his slave, called her a prostitute, and considered her his property. For over five months, Ramirez Perez confined her to their one-room house, sometimes tying her up, and barred her from communicating with her family or anyone else. Then, on December 23, 2011, Ramirez Perez took Velasquez-Rodriguez to visit her family for Christmas. While Ramirez Perez was out with his friends, Velasquez-Rodriguez’s sisters saw her bruises, which prompted her to tell ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals