Medari Rodriguez-Martinez v. Merrick Garland


NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 26 2022 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS MEDARI JAMILETH RODRIGUEZ- No. 20-71807 MARTINEZ, Agency No. A206-004-684 Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted May 20, 2022** Pasadena, California Before: MILLER and COLLINS, Circuit Judges, and KORMAN,*** District Judge. Medari Jamileth Rodriguez-Martinez, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) summarily affirming the order of the immigration judge (“IJ”) denying her applications for withholding of removal and for relief under the Convention * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes that this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C). *** The Honorable Edward R. Korman, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation. Against Torture (“Torture Convention”). Because the BIA summarily affirmed the IJ’s order without an opinion, “we review the IJ’s decision as the agency’s final action.” Cabrera-Alvarez v. Gonzales, 423 F.3d 1006, 1009 (9th Cir. 2005). We have jurisdiction under § 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We deny the petition. 1. Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s conclusion that Rodriguez- Martinez failed to demonstrate that her brother’s mistreatment of her was motivated, “even in part,” by her membership in the particular social group of her family. The record contains ample evidence that her brother’s violence was motivated by factors such as greed and drug addiction, rather than her social group membership. Rodriguez-Martinez stated that her brother was a gang member who would “rob” her and “demand money,” and she testified that her mother was abused “when we didn’t want to give him money or we wouldn’t give him food.” She also testified that her brother was a gang member who similarly extorted individuals outside of her family. In a police report, Rodriguez-Martinez told police she feared her brother “because [he] consumes drugs.” On this record, we cannot say that “any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled” to reach a conclusion contrary to the IJ’s. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B). Given that her brother’s mistreatment was not “because of” her “membership in a particular social group,” Rodriguez-Martinez failed to establish her eligibility for withholding of removal. 2 See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). 2. Substantial evidence also supports the IJ’s denial of Rodriguez- Martinez’s Torture Convention claim on the ground that she had failed to show that the Honduran government would acquiesce in torture by her brother. The IJ acknowledged the evidence in the record concerning the shortcomings in the Honduran government’s efforts to confront crime, but the IJ also noted that the government “has made some efforts to reduce it.” The IJ also pointed out that Honduran authorities had arrested Rodriguez-Martinez’s brother “on …

Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals