Case: 17-13350 Date Filed: 08/29/2018 Page: 1 of 11 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-13350 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A206-698-080 OSBERTO FRANCISCO RAMOS VASQUEZ, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (August 29, 2018) Before JILL PRYOR, FAY and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 17-13350 Date Filed: 08/29/2018 Page: 2 of 11 Osberto Francisco Ramos-Vasquez, a Guatemalan citizen, seeks review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. On appeal, Ramos-Vasquez argues that the BIA erred in determining that his proposed “particular social group”—young men who refuse recruitment by transnational criminal organizations and are targeted as a consequence—was not cognizable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). He also argues that the BIA erred in finding that he failed to prove a nexus between his membership in such group and any persecution he suffered or fears. After careful review, we deny Ramos-Vasquez’s petition. I. BACKGROUND Ramos-Vasquez entered the United States in April 2014 and was issued a notice to appear by the Department of Homeland Security the next month. He conceded that he was removable because he lacked a valid entry or travel document. A year later, Ramos-Vasquez filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal based on his membership in a particular social group. At a merits hearing, Ramos-Vasquez’s attorney argued that the “particular social group” to which Ramos-Vasquez belonged was “young men who refuse recruitment by transnational criminal organization[s]” and “[w]ho are targeted as a 2 Case: 17-13350 Date Filed: 08/29/2018 Page: 3 of 11 consequence of repeated refusal.” A.R. 150-51.1 In support of his application, Ramos-Vasquez testified that he left Guatemala because he had been threatened by members of the Mara-18 gang. He explained that on December 23, 2012, seven or eight armed gang members had approached him and demanded that he join their gang or they would kill him. When he refused, they started hitting and kicking him until he lost consciousness. He did not go to the hospital because he was afraid that the gang would find and kill him, and he did not go to the police because he believed they were allied with the gang. Ramos-Vasquez did not leave his house again until December 28, 2012, when he went to the store with his niece. While they were out, a truck stopped, and several masked men surrounded him. They beat him, put a bag over his head, and threw him in the truck. Ramos-Vasquez was taken to a cabin where he and three others were tortured. For a month, they were tied up, hit, and kicked, and food was thrown at them. Although he did not see his captors’ faces, he believed they were part of a gang because of their tattoos. The captors called Ramos- Vasquez’s ...
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