Case: 19-12618 Date Filed: 05/11/2020 Page: 1 of 12 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-12618 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A202-086-560 MARIA FELICITA BAUTISTA-LOPEZ, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (May 11, 2020) Before BRANCH, LAGOA, and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 19-12618 Date Filed: 05/11/2020 Page: 2 of 12 Maria Felicita Bautista-Lopez seeks review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). She argues that the BIA committed numerous errors in concluding she was not entitled to asylum or withholding of removal, which include (1) determining that the original social groups that she proposed to the IJ are not cognizable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”); (2) concluding she had not established that she is a member of each of those groups; and (3) affirming the IJ’s conclusion that she had not established the El Salvadoran government was unable or unwilling to protect her. She further argues that the BIA erred in failing to address her request that it consider whether the additional social groups that she proposed on appeal were cognizable or remand the case to the IJ to examine the issue. Finally, she asserts that she is entitled to CAT relief, given her reasonable fear that she would be tortured if she returned to El Salvador and that the government would acquiesce in her torture. After a review of the record, we deny the petition. I. Background Bautista-Lopez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, entered the United States without valid entry documents or inspection by an immigration officer on 2 Case: 19-12618 Date Filed: 05/11/2020 Page: 3 of 12 September 1, 2014. She was immediately detained and later participated in a credible fear interview regarding abuse by her former partner, Rolando Alonzo Vasquez (“Rolando”). An asylum officer served Bautista-Lopez with a notice to appear which charged that she was removable pursuant to INA § 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I), as an applicant for admission without a valid entry document. She conceded removability as charged. Bautista-Lopez filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal. She also requested CAT relief. At the merits hearing, Bautista-Lopez, with the assistance of a Spanish interpreter, testified to the following. She feared to return to El Salvador because Rolando, a romantic partner with whom she had lived in El Salvador, threatened to kill her on numerous occasions. She was severely beaten in January 2014, when Rolando slapped her several times, dunked her head in a sink full of water, and pushed her down the stairs, which caused her to fracture her ankle. There were several incidents prior to that one in which Rolando beat her, slapped her, pulled ...
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