United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 17-3688 ___________________________ Maleni Gutierrez Molina; Eduardo Yoneli Guido Gutierrez; Melina Elizabeth Guido Gutierrez; Jorge Javier Guido Gutierrez lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioners v. Matthew G. Whitaker, Acting Attorney General of the United States1 lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: October 17, 2018 Filed: December 12, 2018 ____________ Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ BENTON, Circuit Judge. Maleni Gutierrez Molina and three of her children, Eduardo Yoneli Guido Gutierrez, Melina Elizabeth Guido Gutierrez, and Jorge Javier Guido 1 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker is automatically substituted for former Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions, III as the respondent in this case. Gutierrez—natives and citizens of Mexico—petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying their claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. This court denies the petition for review. I. Maleni Gutierrez Molina and her children were paroled into the United States in 2015. The government placed them in removal proceedings. Gutierrez conceded removability, but requested asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, based on fears that she and her family would be harmed if returned to Mexico. “To be eligible for asylum, an applicant must show that she is unable or unwilling to return to her country of origin ‘because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.’” Marroquin-Ochoma v. Holder, 574 F.3d 574, 577 (8th Cir. 2009), quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). The Gutierrezes seek asylum based on their membership in a particular social group. At the removal hearing, Gutierrez and other family members testified that a cartel kidnapped Gutierrez’s niece and demanded a ransom. The cartel released her the next day after her mother paid part of the ransom. Gutierrez and her children left Michoacan, Mexico, after the kidnappers demanded the rest of the money and threatened her family. The Gutierrezes recalled several other incidents. Eduardo received a threatening call from an unknown caller demanding money. After turning off his cell phone, he did not receive any more threats. A truck followed Melina once, but after waiting inside a house for 15 to 20 minutes, she walked home safely. Gutierrez testified she witnessed two people getting killed. The immigration judge asked several times why she did not report these crimes to police and questioned -2- whether her husband—a police officer in Mexico—would do anything if someone reported crimes to him. During the hearing, Gutierrez’s attorney did not elicit testimony identifying any particular social group. Instead, at the close of the hearing, her attorney stated “I do have proposed social groups if the Court would like it.” The judge replied: No, it’s not up to you to tell me what the social groups are, it’s up to the [Gutierrezes] to do that. . ...
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