Case: 19-60767 Document: 00515821800 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/14/2021 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED April 14, 2021 No. 19-60767 Lyle W. Cayce Summary Calendar Clerk Berta Alicia Baires-Lemos, Petitioner, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A206 251 103 Before Barksdale, Graves, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* Petitioner Berta Alicia Baires-Lemos, a native and citizen of El Salvador, first entered the United States illegally in 2013 and was removed. She reentered illegally in 2015 and applied for immigration relief. She has filed a petition seeking review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) * Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4. Case: 19-60767 Document: 00515821800 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/14/2021 No. 19-60767 affirming the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of her application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Baires claims the BIA’s decision upholding the IJ’s denial of relief was erroneous because the IJ failed to ask her to articulate her proposed social group. She further asserts the BIA erred in upholding the IJ’s finding that the threats she experienced in El Salvador did not rise to the level of persecution. Finally, she claims the BIA erred in upholding the IJ’s conclusion that she had failed to prove it was more likely than not she would be tortured if returned to El Salvador. “When the BIA affirms the IJ’s decision without an opinion, as is the case here, the IJ’s decision is the final agency decision for purposes of judicial review on appeal.” Chen v. Gonzales, 470 F.3d 1131, 1134 (5th Cir. 2006). We review the immigration court’s factual findings for substantial evidence; its legal conclusions, de novo. Zhu v. Gonzales, 493 F.3d 588, 594 (5th Cir. 2007). According to Baires, she fled El Salvador with her youngest son because the gangs would not “leave [her] alone and in peace”. She explained: her adult daughter’s ex-boyfriend was the leader of a gang; and, after her daughter ended the relationship, he threatened to kill Baires and her youngest son. While the ex-boyfriend threatened Baires’ daughter many times via text messages, Baires only testified to isolated incidents of verbal harassment. She testified the ex-boyfriend had once confronted her on her way home from work and warned she should not “cross through” that part of town. Later, he stopped her in the street and asked her why she was prohibiting her daughter from seeing him. As the IJ noted, Baires was never physically harmed by the ex-boyfriend, and neither were any of her children. Indeed, 2 Case: 19-60767 Document: 00515821800 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/14/2021 No. 19-60767 Baires’ daughter, who was subjected to most of the ex-boyfriend’s threats, continues to live in El Salvador and …
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