NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION Case No. 17-4050 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT Jun 04, 2018 DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk JUANA JUAN-MATEO, et al. ) ) Petitioners, ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) FROM THE UNITED STATES v. ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION ) APPEALS JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney ) General, ) ) OPINION Respondent. ) BEFORE: SUTTON, McKEAGUE, and DONALD, Circuit Judges. McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. Many who seek asylum in the United States face genuine dangers in their native countries, and understandably worry over the safety of themselves and their families should they have to return there. We have no doubt that Juana Juan-Mateo and her minor son might find safer harbor in the United States than in Guatemala. But if they were granted asylum under these circumstances, their proposed social groups—“women who oppose gangs” and “Guatemalans afraid of kidnapping”—would encompass nearly “all segments of the population” in their native country. Umana-Ramos v. Holder, 724 F.3d 667, 674 (6th Cir. 2013) (citation and quotation marks omitted). Because the Immigration and Nationality Act does not cast such a broad net, we cannot disturb the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision. We DENY Juan-Mateo’s petition. Case No. 17-4050 Juan-Mateo v. Sessions I For decades, Juana Juan-Mateo lived in her native country, Guatemala. In 2003 or 2004, Juan-Mateo entered the United States, apparently without lawful permission. She returned to her home country in 2010 after hearing that her mother had passed away. On June 30, 2014, Juan- Mateo again entered the United States unlawfully. She testified that she returned to the United States out of fear over violent conditions in Guatemala, and in order to be reunited with her husband, who also apparently lacks legal status here. She brought her minor son along for the journey; her four daughters remained behind in Guatemala. This time, Juan-Mateo and her son were apprehended near the border. The Department of Homeland Security served notices to appear on both, charging each as removable for being an alien without lawful status in violation of the immigration laws of the United States of America. In October 2014, Juan-Mateo appeared with counsel before an immigration judge. The immigration judge sustained the charges in the notices. Juan-Mateo then filed an application seeking asylum and withholding of removal. At its heart, her application claimed that she feared harm from gang members in Guatemala. The immigration judge held a hearing regarding the application in December 2016. Juan- Mateo was the only witness, and her testimony offered several puzzle pieces. As for the danger she allegedly faced in Guatemala, she testified to many criminal incidents. She stated that thugs attempted to rob her father-in-law and cut his hand when he did not have anything of value to give them; that she was once followed by men who she believed were attempting to rob her; that she received a phone call from an unknown man asking for money; that a man took pictures of her daughter, apparently in preparation to ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals