NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 20-2843 _____________ WILLIAM MARROQUIN-CORDOVA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA _______________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the United States Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA 1:A209-418-182) Immigration Judge: Matthew H. Watters _______________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) April 13, 2021 Before: CHAGARES, JORDAN, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Filed: June 22, 2021) _______________ OPINION ∗ _______________ ∗ This disposition is not an opinion of the full court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. JORDAN, Circuit Judge. William Marroquin-Cordova (“Marroquin”) argues that his uncles will persecute and torture him because he is a member of a particular social group (“PSG”) comprised of descendants of his grandfather and because of his political affiliation with the Patriot Party. We agree with the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) that Marroquin failed to demonstrate a nexus to a statutorily protected ground. It appears that his uncles targeted him out of greed and other economic resentment, not out of an animus toward the alleged PSG, nor because of his political opinion. For that reason, the IJ and BIA denied his claim for withholding of removal. The IJ and BIA also appropriately held that Marroquin’s claim for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) lacks merit because he did not show that the authorities would acquiesce in torture. We will therefore deny the petition for review. I. BACKGROUND 1 Marroquin grew up with his parents and four siblings in Santa Cruz El Chol, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. He is a member of the Patriot Party and, in 2014, began working on the second election campaign of Mayor Hector Adolfo Mayen-Alvarado (“Mayor Mayen”), who won elections in 2012 and 2016. Marroquin also worked for the local government in 2014 and 2015 as the Assistant of Public Services and the Promoter of Sports and Recreation, which were desirable government positions. 1 The following is drawn primarily from Marroquin’s removal hearing testimony and is consistent with the IJ’s findings of fact. 2 He describes his uncles Raul and Pedro Cordova threatening to kill him “a lot of times” between 2014 and 2016, which eventually drove him out of Guatemala. (AR at 131.) He explained that his uncles were jealous of his government positions, given that they had lost their positions as bodyguards for the previous mayor of 16 years, who was a member of the competing Leader Party. 2 Additionally, they were envious of Marroquin’s potential claim to land previously owned by his grandfather, who died in 2019. That land was supposedly devised to Marroquin’s father, his uncle Raul, and another uncle, Nicholas, who has since died. Although Marroquin expressed some uncertainty as to the devisees, which may have included his uncle Pedro, he was confident that his father inherited a portion of the property, and that he, Marroquin, might then inherit his father’s portion. His uncles Pedro and Raul did not “want …
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