NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 21a0492n.06 No. 21-3029 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT LEA JASEL JOLON-VELASQUEZ, ) FILED Oct 28, 2021 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Petitioner, ) ) v. ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) FROM THE BOARD OF MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, ) IMMIGRATION APPEALS ) Respondent. ) ) ) Before: CLAY, GIBBONS, and BUSH, Circuit Judges. CLAY, Circuit Judge. Lea Jasel Jolon-Velasquez seeks review of a December 16, 2020, Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision dismissing her appeal of an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) October 26, 2018, decision denying her application for asylum, 8 U.S.C. § 1158; withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3); and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), 8 C.F.R. § 208.16. Specifically, Jolon-Velasquez challenges the agency’s adverse credibility determination. Because the agency’s decision is supported by substantial evidence, we DENY the petition for review. BACKGROUND Jolon-Velasquez is a citizen of Guatemala who entered the United States without inspection on July 7, 2011, near Del Rio, Texas. Upon entering the United States, she was detained in Taylor, Texas. On August 11, 2011, she met with an asylum officer who conducted a credible- No. 21-3029, Jolon-Velasquez v. Garland fear interview. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) initiated removal proceedings against her on August 12, 2011. On April 30, 2013, she filed an application seeking asylum and withholding of removal under both the INA and the CAT. Her application indicated that she feared returning to Guatemala based on her “[m]embership in a particular social group,” (Asylum Appl., A.R. #243), consisting of “Guatemalan women in domestic relationships seen as property of their partner,” (Pet’r Br. to BIA, A.R. #30). Specifically, she said that she feared returning to Guatemala because her ex-partner—Ramiro Perez-Carrera—had a history of domestic violence, and she was afraid Perez-Carrera would kill her if she returned. In Guatemala, Jolon-Velasquez was in a common law marriage with Perez-Carrera.1 She met Perez-Carrera in 1997. In her credible-fear interview, she said that the couple moved in together in April 1998. But in her testimony before the IJ, she said that they moved in together in December 1997. They had a son together in June 1998. After they moved in together, Perez-Carrera began abusing Jolon-Velasquez. He would frequently beat her and lock her up. In one such incident, Perez-Carrera became angry after Jolon- Velasquez asked him to help care for their baby. He “grabbed [her] by the neck and he hit [her] head, threw [her] against the wall and he grabbed the baby.” (Credible Fear Interview, A.R. #308). He then held her neck against the wall and hit her with one hand while holding their baby in the other. When Jolon-Velasquez finally got free, Perez-Carrera “grabbed [her] by the hair and dragged [her] into the room” where he “climbed on top of [her] and tried to choke [her].” (Id.) 1 However, the record is not entirely clear on the marital status of Jolon-Velasquez and …
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