NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 20-1484 ________________ EDVIN AROLDO SALAZAR-CORDERO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ________________ On Petition for Review of a Final Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (No. A206-508-336) Immigration Judge: Dinesh C. Verma ________________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) November 16, 2020 Before: AMBRO, BIBAS and ROTH, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: March 2, 2021) ________________ OPINION* ________________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. AMBRO, Circuit Judge, Petitioner Edvin Aroldo Salazar-Cordero seeks our review of the dismissal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) of his appeal from the decision of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We deny the petition for review. I. Edvin Salazar-Cordero is a 28-year-old Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States in May of 2013. The Department of Homeland Security began removal proceedings shortly thereafter, charging Salazar-Cordero with being removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). At a hearing before an IJ, Salazar-Cordero conceded removability and filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under CAT based on his membership in a particular social group, namely “young Guatemalan males that have rejected recruitment by criminal organizations.” A.R. 60. In support of his application, Salazar-Cordero testified that, while he was in Guatemala, two corrupt police officers allied with the Maras-18 gang asked him on two occasions to store drugs for them in a warehouse at the ranch where he worked. He testified that Maras-18 controlled the town he was living in, Concepción Las Minas, stating that “[Maras-18] commands things, it runs things.” A.R. 138. The uniformed officers first approached him at the ranch, identifying him by name, and demanded that he store a drug package they had in a barn on the property—at one point putting a gun to his chest. After Salazar-Cordero’s refusals, the officers told him, “[i]t’s not going to be long until we meet again, until we come back for you.” A.R. 144. 2 After the interaction at the ranch, Salazar-Cordero tried to report this interaction to the Chief of Police but was laughed at in response. Weeks later, the same officers, this time in plain clothes, approached him as he was walking home from his sister’s house. The officers tried to force him into their car and, when he resisted, they proceeded to beat and kick him on the ground until a stranger intervened. The officers left him with a warning that if they caught him again, “that’s going to be the last of you.” A.R. 154. After spending multiple days in the hospital, Salazar-Cordero retreated to his aunt’s house. While there, the police officers came to the house and told his aunt that they were looking for him. Several days later, he fled to the United States. When crossing the border, Salazar-Cordero told immigration …
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