NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 24 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ANA MARINA RIVERA-MONTENEGRO, No. 19-70548 Petitioner, Agency No. A206-895-204 v. MEMORANDUM* JEFFREY A. ROSEN, Acting Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted December 11, 2020 San Francisco, California Before: BOGGS,** M. SMITH, and BENNETT, Circuit Judges. Petitioner Ana Rivera-Montenegro seeks review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Rivera-Montenegro contends that the BIA * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The Honorable Danny J. Boggs, United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. committed legal error with respect to her asylum and withholding-of-removal claims. Specifically, she argues that the BIA failed to undertake a mixed-motives analysis in determining whether she had established that the gang extortion she experienced was motivated in part by her status as a single female and member of numerous single female head of household social groups. 1 In addition, Rivera- Montenegro argues that the BIA erred by failing to consider the entire record when it denied her claim for CAT relief. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we grant the petition for review with respect to Rivera-Montenegro’s asylum and withholding-of-removal claims, deny it with respect to her CAT claim, and remand. Rivera-Montenegro is a 34-year-old native and citizen of El Salvador, who fled to the United States with her now twelve-year old daughter following repeated gang harassment and extortion. Her application stated: “I was threatened by the gang, Mara 18, who targeted me because I was a single mother and business owner and I lived alone with my seven-year-old daughter. I was forced to pay ‘[la] renta’, but when I could no longer afford it, they threatened to harm my daughter and me, 1 Rivera-Montenegro asserted membership in the following social groups: (1) Salvadoran female heads of household; (2) Salvadoran female heads of household without male support; (3) single Salvadoran women without male support; (4) single Salvadoran mothers without male support; (5) single Salvadoran women small business owners; and (6) single Salvadoran women small business owners without male support. 2 so I fled.” While in El Salvador, Rivera-Montenegro and her sisters experienced serious continuing abuse from men and gangs as they were growing up, ranging from sexual harassment to violent assaults. After her mother relocated to the United States, Rivera-Montenegro and her daughter moved to Soyapango, San Salvador. Her neighborhood there was also overrun with gang members. In 2012, she opened a “mini market” out of her home, selling products such as beans, rice, and chips. After she started her business, gang members came to her store and ...
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