IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 17-60753 June 7, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk W.M.V.C.; A.P.V., Petitioners, versus WILLIAM P. BARR, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Before KING, SMITH, and WILLETT, Circuit Judges. JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: W.M.V.C. and her daughter A.P.V. are Honduran immigrants who appealed the dismissal of their applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We granted the government’s motion to remand to allow the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) to consider the issues raised in the petitioners’ opening brief. Petitioners seek to recover attorneys’ fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”). Because the government’s position as a whole was substantially justified, we deny the petition for review. No. 17-60753 I. In 1999, W.M.V.C. began work as a housekeeper for Angelica Perez, who soon professed her love for W.M.V.C. and forcibly insisted that they live to- gether in a romantic relationship. For the next sixteen years, Perez frequently raped and abused W.M.V.C.—sometimes in front of W.M.V.C.’s two children. Perez also regularly beat the children and threatened to kill W.M.V.C.’s family if she attempted to leave. To prevent the possibility of escape, Perez locked the door and windows anytime she left the house. W.M.V.C. attempted to escape twice, but her efforts incurred only greater mistreatment. Despite the continual violence, W.M.V.C. never contacted the police, many of whom were close friends with Perez. As a retired officer, Perez fre- quently invited her former colleagues to her home for drinks. On those occa- sions, the police observed Perez locking W.M.V.C. and the children in a back- room yet failed to intervene. Once, when W.M.V.C.’s brother filed a complaint against Perez for nearly hitting W.M.V.C.’s sister with a car, the police took Perez into custody. But they soon released her, advising her to kill W.M.V.C.’s siblings if they continued to meddle in her affairs. As the years passed, rumors began to percolate that Perez and W.M.V.C. were romantically involved. Neighbors discussed “how disgusting it was that [W.M.V.C.] lived with another woman” and how “rape would fix her.” After a gang member threatened to kill W.M.V.C. in an effort to extort money, she made one final attempt to escape. When petitioners succeeded in fleeing to the United States in 2015, Perez created a fictitious Facebook account for her un- willing lover, ostensibly professing W.M.V.C.’s affections for Perez. Petitioners applied for asylum and withholding of removal. W.M.V.C. maintained that she had a well-founded fear of future persecution in Honduras based on her perceived homosexuality and anti-gang political opinion. 2 No. 17-60753 Moreover, she averred that she had been persecuted on account of her membership in four particular social groups: (1) Honduran women unable to leave a domestic relationship; (2) Honduran women viewed as property by virtue of their status in a domestic relationship; (3) Honduran women without a male protector; and (4) Honduran ...
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