FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT FRANCISCA VILLEGAS SANCHEZ, No. 16-73745 Petitioner, Agency No. v. A208-595-370 MERRICK GARLAND, Attorney General, OPINION Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted January 12, 2021 San Francisco, California Filed March 11, 2021 Before: Jay S. Bybee and Ryan D. Nelson, Circuit Judges, and Robert H. Whaley, * District Judge. Opinion by Judge R. Nelson * The Honorable Robert H. Whaley, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington, sitting by designation. 2 VILLEGAS SANCHEZ V. GARLAND SUMMARY ** Immigration Denying Francisca Villegas Sanchez’s petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision upholding an immigration judge’s denial of her applications for asylum and withholding of removal, the panel held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that she failed to establish past harm rising to the level of persecution, and that her proposed social groups were not cognizable. The panel held that Villegas Sanchez did not establish past persecution, where her alleged persecutor issued vague threats, confronted her several times over a period of weeks, did not perform any acts of violence, and never followed through on any of his threats. The panel explained that, though condemnable, the unfulfilled threats were not so overwhelming to necessarily constitute persecution. The panel held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that petitioner’s proposed social groups comprised of “Salvadoran women who refuse to be girlfriends of MS gang members” and “Salvadoran women who refuse to be victims of violent sexual predation of gang members” lacked social distinction. Noting that the government did not contest that the proposed groups satisfy the first social distinction requirement of sharing “a common immutable characteristic,” the panel wrote that women either ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. VILLEGAS SANCHEZ V. GARLAND 3 cannot change, or should not be required to change their gender because it is fundamental to their identity, and women should not be required to change their choice not to submit to gang members and enter into a sexual relationship in order to avoid persecution. The panel concluded that Villegas Sanchez failed to present sufficient evidence to compel the finding that society in general perceives, considers, or recognizes persons sharing her proposed particular characteristics to be a group. Explaining that the social distinction inquiry encompasses principles that will ordinarily demand some type of corroborative, objective evidence other than an applicant’s testimony, the panel concluded that the evidence Villegas Sanchez presented, including country report evidence stating generally that women in El Salvador can be ill-treated, and her aunt’s suggestion that she leave El Salvador, did not compel the conclusion that Salvadoran society perceives women similarly situated to her as a group. The panel also rejected Villegas Sanchez’s assertion that the Board did not perform the required evidence-based inquiry as to whether the relevant society …
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