USCA11 Case: 20-12004 Date Filed: 03/18/2021 Page: 1 of 10 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-12004 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A209-763-039 OSMAR IVAN LOPEZ ALVARADO, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (March 18, 2021) Before WILSON, JORDAN, and GRANT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Osmar Lopez Alvarado petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order affirming the immigration judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and USCA11 Case: 20-12004 Date Filed: 03/18/2021 Page: 2 of 10 protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Because we agree that Lopez Alvarado was not eligible for these forms of relief, we deny his petition for review. I. Lopez Alvarado, a native and citizen of Guatemala, applied for admission to the United States from a port of entry between the United States and Mexico on October 31, 2016. Because he did not possess valid entry documents, the Department of Homeland Security charged him with removability. Lopez Alvarado conceded that he was removable, but applied for asylum, statutory withholding of removal, and protection under CAT. In support of his applications, he claimed that he had been and likely would be persecuted in Guatemala due to his membership in a particular social group, and that he was afraid of being hurt or killed if forced to return. He described an instance where he had been approached by gang members and asked to join their gang; when he refused, they told him to think it over or else “it would go bad” for him. When he refused a second time, they told him to “start saying [his] good-byes to the world.” Those encounters frightened him, and prompted him to flee to the United States. After holding a hearing, the immigration judge denied his applications for relief. The immigration judge first determined that Lopez Alvarado’s proposed social group—young male Guatemalans opposed to gang violence who resist those 2 USCA11 Case: 20-12004 Date Filed: 03/18/2021 Page: 3 of 10 activities for moral and religious reasons—was not viable based on earlier decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals. This meant that Lopez Alvarado was not eligible for asylum or statutory withholding of removal. Turning to Lopez Alvarado’s request for relief under CAT, the immigration judge found that Lopez Alvarado had not shown that he would be tortured with the consent or acquiescence of public officials if forced to return to Guatemala. The immigration judge denied Lopez Alvarado’s requests for relief and ordered him removed. Lopez Alvarado appealed the immigration judge’s decision to the Board. In his brief to the Board, he argued that the immigration judge should have recognized his membership in a particular social group because his proposed group shared common and immutable characteristics. He also argued that it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if forced to …
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