Blanca Flores-Vasquez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Filing 511160851

Blanca Flores-Vasquez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Doc. 511160851

Case: 09-60674

Document: 00511160851

Page: 1

Date Filed: 07/01/2010

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS United States Court of Appeals FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Fifth Circuit FILED
N o . 09-60674 S u m m a r y Calendar July 1, 2010 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

B L A N C A OLIVIA FLORES-VASQUEZ, P e titio n e r v. E R I C H. HOLDER, JR., U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, R espon dent

P e tit io n for Review of an Order of the B o a r d of Immigration Appeals B I A No. A97 318 952

B e fo r e KING, DAVIS, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges. P E R CURIAM:* B la n c a Olivia Flores-Vasquez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, p e t it io n s for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) denial of her r e q u e s t for asylum and withholding of removal. Her request is based on her c la im in g she was gang raped repeatedly in El Salvador. Flores maintains the BIA erred when it determined she failed to establish s h e was persecuted on account of her membership in a "particular social group" o f "Salvadoran women who are made sexual slaves". (Flores raised additional
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
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Case: 09-60674

Document: 00511160851 Page: 2 No. 09-60674

Date Filed: 07/01/2010

a s y lu m theories before the IJ and the BIA, including that she was persecuted d u e to: suspicions that her father was a government informant; her father's s o c ia l prominence; or her membership in her family as a social group. Both the B I A and the IJ rejected these contentions, and Flores has not presented them o n appeal. Accordingly, she has abandoned them. See Soadjede v. Ashcroft, 324 F .3 d 830, 833 (5th Cir. 2003).) T h e Attorney General may grant asylum to an applicant who qualifies as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b). A refugee is a " p e r s o n who is outside any country of such person's nationality", who cannot or is unwilling to return to "that country because of persecution or a well-founded fe a r of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a p a r tic u la r social group, or political opinion". 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). "An applicant for withholding of removal has the burden of showing that `it is more likely than not' that his life or freedom would be threatened by p e r s e c u t io n on account of one of the five categories mentioned under asylum . . . ." Efe v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 899, 906 (5th Cir. 2002) (citing 8 C.F.R. § 2 0 8 .1 6 (b )); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3). "Withholding of removal is a higher s t a n d a r d than asylum. . . . [One who] does not meet the bar for asylum . . . also d o e s not meet the standard for withholding". Efe, 293 F.3d at 906. A lt h o u g h she describes horrific incidents, Flores fails two prongs of the a s y lu m test. First, she has failed to establish membership in "a group of persons t h a t share a common immutable characteristic that they either cannot change o r should not be required to change because it is `fundamental to their individual id e n titie s or consciences'". See Mwembie v. Gonzales, 443 F.3d 405, 415 (5th Cir. 2 0 0 6 ) (quoting Ontunez-Tursios v. Ashcroft, 303 F.3d 341, 352­53 (5th Cir. 2 0 0 2 )) (internal quotation marks omitted). She has not submitted evidence e s t a b lis h in g that there are other members of this group or that this group in fact e x is t s ; and it is described too broadly to provide a meaningful basis for d is t in g u is h in g its members. See, e.g., Rivera-Barrera v. Holder, 322 F. App'x 2

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Date Filed: 07/01/2010

3 7 5 , 376 (5th Cir. 2009) (unpublished); Cua-Tumax v. Holder, 343 F. App'x 995, 9 9 7 (5th Cir. 2009) (unpublished). S e c o n d , Flores has not submitted compelling evidence supporting her p o s it io n that she was persecuted "on account of" her alleged membership in the c la im e d social group of "Salvadoran women who are made sexual slaves". See I N S v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481­83 & n.1 (1992) (interpreting 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A)). For example, there was no compelling evidence that her a t t a c k e r s were motivated by this alleged status; in fact, it remains unclear why s h e was targeted. I n sum, Flores does not meet the standard for asylum. Accordingly, she d o e s not meet the above-discussed more stringent standard for withholding of r e m o v a l. See Efe, 293 F.3d at 906. D E N IE D .

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