USCA11 Case: 20-12223 Date Filed: 03/22/2021 Page: 1 of 7 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-12223 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A206-623-066 DONELDO MENOCAL-VARGAS, et al., Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (March 22, 2021) Before MARTIN, BRANCH, and GRANT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Doneldo Menocal-Vargas petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board dismissed Menocal-Vargas’s appeal of the immigration judge’s decision, which denied his applications for asylum, USCA11 Case: 20-12223 Date Filed: 03/22/2021 Page: 2 of 7 withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. After careful review, we deny the petition, as Menocal-Vargas has not shown he is eligible for relief. I In 2014, Menocal-Vargas, a native and citizen of Honduras, entered the United States. He was charged with being removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) for entering the United States without being admitted or paroled. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Menocal-Vargas applied for asylum and withholding of removal under the INA and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). 1 In his applications, he said he faced persecution by the gang Maras Salvatrucha (“MS”) because he told young men and children not to join gangs, because MS believed he worked for the army to fight gangs, and because MS threatened to kill his family unless his son joined MS. The immigration judge (“IJ”) held a hearing on Menocal-Vargas’s claims. Menocal-Vargas testified that three members of MS visited his home once in January 2014. The MS members visited Menocal-Vargas because he was trying to 1 Menocal-Vargas’s wife and two children also went through the immigration proceedings, and Menocal-Vargas’s applications make their claims derivative of his claims. We address the facts as they relate to Menocal-Vargas in this opinion. 2 USCA11 Case: 20-12223 Date Filed: 03/22/2021 Page: 3 of 7 dissuade young men from joining gangs through a church program. After seeing certain military diplomas on his wall, the MS members thought he was an undercover police officer trying to go after gangs. The MS members also threatened Menocal-Vargas, telling him that they would kill his family unless his son joined MS. Menocal-Vargas provided two theories of eligibility for relief. First, he said he was in a social group “made up of former members of the military who are actively speaking against gang affiliation.” Second, he said his opposition to gangs is a protected political opinion. The IJ denied Menocal-Vargas’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief. The IJ found there had been no past persecution in this case. It separately found that Menocal-Vargas failed to show he has been or will be persecuted based on membership in a protected particular social group or political opinion. Because Menocal-Vargas failed to …
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