NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 18 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT LEOBARDO JIMENEZ-DOMINGUEZ, No. 20-70207 Petitioner, Agency No. A205-274-719 v. MEMORANDUM* WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted December 10, 2020 Seattle, Washington Before: BERZON, MILLER, and BRESS, Circuit Judges. Leobardo Jimenez-Dominguez, a native and citizen of Mexico, seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming an immigration judge’s denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1), and we deny the petition. 1. Jimenez-Dominguez seeks review of the Board’s denial of * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. withholding of removal based on his membership in two proposed social groups: (1) his biological family and (2) “property owners in Santo Domingo Yosonama,” Mexico. Jimenez-Dominguez contends “that he will be extorted, kidnapped, and killed just like his three cousins . . . because he is a member of their extended family and because he co-owns property in Santo Domingo Yosonama.” Jimenez- Dominguez does not claim that he suffered past persecution, so he must demonstrate “a clear probability of future persecution.” Tamang v. Holder, 598 F.3d 1083, 1094 (9th Cir. 2010). He must also show that the feared persecution has a nexus to a protected ground. Garay Reyes v. Lynch, 842 F.3d 1125, 1132 n.3, 1136 (9th Cir. 2016). Substantial evidence supports the immigration judge’s finding, adopted by the Board, that Jimenez-Dominguez did not establish a nexus between the feared persecution and membership in his biological family. Jimenez-Dominguez does not know who killed his cousins, and he testified that he believed his cousins were attacked because they owned land—not because they belonged to his biological family. In addition, members of Jimenez-Dominguez’s immediate family currently live in Mexico and have not been threatened or subjected to mistreatment. Cf. Tamang, 598 F.3d at 1094; Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 743 (9th Cir. 2008), abrogated on other grounds by Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc). The record does not contain “direct or circumstantial” 2 evidence sufficient to compel the conclusion that Jimenez-Dominguez will more likely than not be targeted for persecution on account of his biological family. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483–84 (1992). Because Jimenez-Dominguez did not demonstrate a nexus between any threat of harm and his membership in his biological family, we need not consider the Board’s alternative holding that his family is not cognizable as a particular social group. Substantial evidence also supports the immigration judge’s finding, adopted by the Board, that Jimenez-Dominguez did not establish a nexus between the feared persecution and his status as a property owner. Jimenez-Dominguez co- owns a house in Santo Domingo Yosonama and claims that his home ownership ...
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