Cruz-Santos v. Garland

Case: 20-60795 Document: 00516216358 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/24/2022
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
February 24, 2022
No. 20-60795 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
Gelci Jakelyn Cruz-Santos; Gerard Adonay Banegas-
Cruz,
Petitioners,
versus
Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General,
Respondent.
Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
BIA No. 208 992 840
BIA No. 208 992 841
Before Jolly, Willett, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Gelci Jakelyn Cruz-Santos and her child Gerard Adonay Banegas-
Cruz are natives and citizens of Honduras. They seek review of a Board of
Immigration Appeals (BIA) opinion denying Cruz-Santos’s application for
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-60795 Document: 00516216358 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/24/2022
No. 20-60795
asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against
Torture (CAT). The petition for review is denied.
To be eligible for asylum, an applicant must show that she is unable or
unwilling to return to her country “because of persecution or a well-founded
fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A); see
also 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1). A particular social group must be made up of
members who share a common immutable characteristic, be defined with
particularity, and be distinct from other persons within society. See Pena
Oseguera v. Barr, 936 F.3d 249, 251 (5th Cir. 2019). Neither former female
Honduran nurses nor Honduran women living alone is based on an
immutable characteristic. See Mwembie v. Gonzales, 443 F.3d 405, 415 (5th
Cir. 2006); see also Ontunez–Tursios v. Ashcroft, 303 F.3d 341, 352-53 (5th Cir.
2002). Likewise, the BIA did not err by refusing to consider a proposed
particular social group presented for the first time on appeal. See Cantarero-
Lagos v. Barr, 924 F.3d 145, 150 (5th Cir. 2019). Cruz-Santos does not meet
the standard for asylum, or the higher burden for withholding of removal. See
Orellana-Monson v. Holder, 685 F.3d 511, 518 (5th Cir. 2012). Her CAT claim
also fails, as she did not establish that it is more likely than not that she will
be tortured by or with the acquiescence of the Honduran government if
removed. See Martinez-Lopez v. Barr, 943 F.3d 766, 772-73 (5th Cir. 2019).
The petition for review is DENIED.
2