USCA11 Case: 20-11203 Date Filed: 01/08/2021 Page: 1 of 5 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-11203 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A208-980-383 ALICIA MENDEZ-GUTIERREZ, Petitioner-Appellant, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (January 8, 2021) Before JILL PRYOR, LAGOA, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Alicia Mendez-Gutierrez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ final order affirming the immigration judge’s USCA11 Case: 20-11203 Date Filed: 01/08/2021 Page: 2 of 5 denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Mendez-Gutierrez challenges the BIA’s determination that she is not eligible for asylum and withholding of removal because she did not establish membership in a statutorily protected group. She also argues that the record compels a finding that she is eligible for CAT relief. We deny the petition. We review the BIA’s decision as the final judgment but turn to the immigration judge’s decision to the extent that the BIA adopts it. Perez-Zenteno v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 913 F.3d 1301, 1306 (11th Cir. 2019). Issues that the BIA did not reach are not properly before us. Gonzalez v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 820 F.3d 399, 403 (11th Cir. 2016). And issues the petitioner did not raise before the BIA are unexhausted; we lack jurisdiction to consider them. INA § 242(d)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1); Alim v. Gonzales, 446 F.3d 1239, 1253 (11th Cir. 2006). To establish eligibility for asylum, a petitioner must demonstrate either past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution based on “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” INA § 101(a)(42)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A); Silva v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 448 F.3d 1229, 1236 (11th Cir. 2006). Liberally construed, Mendez-Gutierrez’s argument before this Court raises five issues: (1) she has established past or future persecution; (2) she has established a nexus between that persecution and membership in a particular 2 USCA11 Case: 20-11203 Date Filed: 01/08/2021 Page: 3 of 5 social group; (3) she belongs to that particular social group; (4) that particular social group is cognizable; and (5) she has proven that she will likely be tortured if she returns to El Salvador. But only the fifth issue she raises, seeking CAT relief, can be addressed by this Court. The BIA did not rely on the first issue as a basis to deny her claim, so it is not properly before this Court. Gonzalez, 820 F.3d at 403. And we do not have jurisdiction to consider issues two through four: Mendez-Gutierrez raised none of those issues before the BIA. Alim, 446 F.3d at 1253. There, her entire argument for asylum and withholding of removal was that she had “suffered past persecution” and feared future persecution because her partner, who was part of a gang, had physically abused her and her son. If she ...
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