USCA11 Case: 21-11249 Date Filed: 02/14/2022 Page: 1 of 10 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-11249 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ DIEGO MERINO-DE JESUS, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A205-655-946 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 21-11249 Date Filed: 02/14/2022 Page: 2 of 10 2 Opinion of the Court 21-11249 Before JILL PRYOR, NEWSOM, and BRANCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Diego Merino-De Jesus, a native and citizen of Mexico, en- tered the United States illegally in 1999. After conceding remova- bility, he filed for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. An Immigration Judge denied relief, and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. Because the BIA’s conclusions are legally sound and supported by substantial evi- dence, we deny Merino-De Jesus’s petition for review. I At the age of 15, Merino-De Jesus crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization. He eventually made his way to Florida, and for several years worked various jobs in the construc- tion industry. In 2012, after Merino-De Jesus was arrested for driv- ing with a suspended license, the Department of Homeland Secu- rity served him with a notice to appear. At the ensuing proceed- ings, Merino-De Jesus conceded removability. But he was tempo- rarily granted relief in the form of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This relief, however, proved to be temporary. Merino-De Jesus lost his DACA eligibility following a DUI conviction in 2016. His case was then re-calendared before an IJ, and Merino-De Jesus applied for withholding of removal and CAT relief. USCA11 Case: 21-11249 Date Filed: 02/14/2022 Page: 3 of 10 21-11249 Opinion of the Court 3 In support of his requests, Merino-De Jesus explained that his father beat him when he was young. This caused him to live on the streets, where he was often harassed by “Los Locos,” an al- leged gang. In addition, Merino-De Jesus testified that his fear of persecution stemmed from his membership in the indigenous Triqui Tribe. He said that his uncle Juan Merino—the leader of his tribal village—was murdered around 1998, supposedly because he wanted to help the village. Another uncle, Alberto Merino, took over, and Merino-De Jesus believes that Alberto still advocates on behalf of the village. Merino-De Jesus testified that he feared for his life should he return to Mexico, because of his membership in the Triqui Tribe and his familial relation to Juan and Alberto. He also feared that a group of Triqui fighters known as MULT would attack him, suspecting that he had money. The IJ denied relief. As to Merino-De Jesus’s fear of the two groups, the IJ found that he had never been harmed by MULT, and the harm he received at the hands of Los Locos did not rise to the level of persecution. Nor did Merino-De Jesus establish that any statutorily protected ground was a central reason why the gang had targeted him, or …
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