Case: 21-60954 Document: 00516531367 Page: 1 Date Filed: 11/02/2022 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 21-60954 FILED November 2, 2022 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Maria Santos Hernandez Alvear; Maria Isabel Hernandez Alvear, Petitioners, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A094-899-866, Agency No. A209-164-273 Before King, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* Lead petitioner Maria Santos Hernandez Alvear and her minor daughter Maria Isabel Hernandez Alvear seek review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision affirming the denial of the lead petitioner’s * Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.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: 21-60954 Document: 00516531367 Page: 2 Date Filed: 11/02/2022 No. 21-60954 application for asylum and withholding of removal. We DENY the petition for review. Maria Santos Hernandez Alvear (“Hernandez Alvear”) and Maria Isabel Hernandez Alvear, natives of Mexico, unlawfully entered the United States on July 27, 2016. 1 The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) served them with Notices to Appear charging them as subject to removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). Hernandez Alvear then applied for asylum and withholding of removal. In support of her application, Hernandez Alvear testified to the following facts. Around May 2016, Hernandez Alvear’s brother, Heliodoro Hernandez Alvear (“Heliodoro”), 2 was taking care of a relative’s cattle. Members of the La Familia Michoacana (“La Familia”) drug cartel approached Heliodoro and asked him for money. Heliodoro refused; some time afterwards, La Familia members again approached Heliodoro, tried to kill him, and threatened him by saying that La Familia would “finish with the whole family” if he did not pay La Familia. Heliodoro did not report these incidents to the police due to suspected police corruption. He then went into hiding and, along with Hernandez Alvear, escaped to the U.S. Nine of Hernandez Alvear’s siblings and her mother remain in Mexico. Based on these facts, Hernandez Alvear applied for asylum and withholding of removal based on her membership in the particular social group (“PSG”) of the family of Heliodoro. The immigration judge (“IJ”) denied Hernandez Alvear’s application. The IJ held that her proffered PSG 1 Maria Santos Hernandez Alvear is the lead petitioner, and Maria Isabel is her minor daughter. 2 We use Heliodoro Hernandez Alvear’s first name for clarity without intending any disrespect or familiarity. 2 Case: 21-60954 Document: 00516531367 Page: 3 Date Filed: 11/02/2022 No. 21-60954 was not a cognizable social group and, even if said group were cognizable, that Hernandez Alvear had not established the requisite nexus between (1) the persecution suffered and feared and (2) her membership in her proffered social group. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) agreed and dismissed Hernandez Alvear’s appeal. Hernandez Alvear timely filed a petition for review. We review the BIA’s factual findings, including …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals