Hasan Fero v. Eric Holder, Jr.

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAY 17 2013
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
HASAN FERO; ZUMRUT FERO, No. 11-71218
Petitioners, Agency Nos. A099-580-340
A099-580-344
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, MEMORANDUM *
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted March 8, 2013
Seattle, Washington
Before: W. FLETCHER, RAWLINSON, and EBEL,** Circuit Judges.
Petitioners Hasan and Zumrut Fero challenge the BIA’s denial of
withholding of removal and CAT relief.
1. The Feros did not challenge the BIA’s denial of their CAT claims in
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable David M. Ebel, Senior Circuit Judge for the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
their opening brief and therefore their challenge is waived. See Castro-Martinez v.
Holder, 674 F.3d 1073, 1082-83 (9th Cir. 2011) (petitioner waived challenge to
denial of CAT relief by not raising it in his opening brief).
2. The Feros did not exhaust the argument that their family constituted a
social group and therefore this court lacks jurisdiction to review it. See Lee v.
Holder, 599 F.3d 973, 976 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1)).
3. Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that the Feros were
not persecuted on account of their membership in a social group. The Feros’
purported social group–business owners who are indebted to the Turkish
mafia–lacks both the social visibility and particularity to render it a social group.
Apart from the fact that such individuals owe money to the mafia, there is no
immutable characteristic or voluntary relationship tying them together. See Ochoa
v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1166, 1170-71 (9th Cir. 2005) (holding that Colombian
business owners who rejected demands by drug-traffickers to engage in illicit
activity were not a social group because they were not bound by a voluntary
relationship or innate characteristic).
PETITION DENIED.
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