NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued November 18, 2020 Decided May 21, 2021 Before DIANE S. SYKES, Chief Judge MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge No. 20-1267 SANTOS W. REYES-CIFUENTES, On Petition for Review of an Order Petitioner, of the Board of Immigration Appeals. v. No. A216-376-513 MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. ORDER Santos Reyes-Cifuentes, a Guatemalan native, petitions for relief from removal on the ground that local gang members extorted money from him because he managed a restaurant. He applied for asylum and deferred removal under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). An immigration judge (“IJ”) found that his purported social group (restaurant managers) did not motivate the gang to extort him—money did—and in any case, the treatment he suffered was not persecution, so she denied asylum relief. The IJ further ruled that Reyes-Cifuentes did not qualify for protection under CAT No. 20-1267 Page 2 because the gang had not tortured him and was not likely to do so in the future. Reyes- Cifuentes argues that the IJ used the wrong legal standard in assessing persecution on his asylum claim. But we do not need to reach the question of persecution because Reyes-Cifuentes’s asylum claim fails for another reason: the gang did not persecute him based on his proposed social group. We therefore deny the petition for review. I. Background Reyes-Cifuentes entered the United States in 2017 and promptly applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under CAT. At his removal hearing before an IJ, he testified that he managed a restaurant in Guatemala and his troubles began when a gang mistook him for a wealthy restaurant owner, demanded money from him, and threatened to kill him and his son if he failed to pay. He knew of others in the restaurant business who had been murdered after they did not pay similar demands. Initially he complied and paid the equivalent of $130 every two weeks. On Mother’s Day he celebrated with his mother instead of paying the gang. The next day as two police officers looked on, three gang members punched, kicked, and beat him with bottles for three to five minutes, leaving wounds that required medical attention. He continued to pay and was not physically harmed again. But a few months later, the gang demanded much more—approximately $4,600. He could not pay in full, so he paid what he could and fled to the United States. His family remained in Guatemala and they have received threats from the gang, so they have moved around to avoid harm. Reyes-Cifuentes fears that he will face future harm if he returns to Guatemala because the gang would find him. The IJ denied Reyes-Cifuentes’s application for asylum. She noted that he had not alleged which protected characteristic caused his persecution but that his testimony suggested it was the social group of …
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