Roxana Patricia Guevara De Rodriguez v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ROXANA PATRICIA GUEVARA DE
RODRIGUEZ,
Petitioner,
v.
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
No. 22-1751
Agency No.
A099-523-226
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted November 14, 2023**
Before: SILVERMAN, WARDLAW, and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.
Roxana Patricia Guevara de Rodriguez, a native and citizen of El Salvador,
petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order
dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
NOV 21 2023
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the
Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C.
§ 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings,
including determinations regarding social distinction. Conde Quevedo v. Barr, 947
F.3d 1238, 1241-42 (9th Cir. 2020). We review de novo questions of law,
including whether a particular social group is cognizable, except to the extent that
deference is owed to the BIA’s interpretation of the governing statutes and
regulations. Id. We deny the petition for review.
The BIA did not err in concluding that Guevara de Rodriguez’s two
proposed particular social groups based on opposition to gangs are not cognizable.
See Reyes v. Lynch, 842 F.3d 1125, 1131 (9th Cir. 2016) (to demonstrate
membership in a particular group, “[t]he applicant must ‘establish that the group is
(1) composed of members who share a common immutable characteristic,
(2) defined with particularity, and (3) socially distinct within the society in
question’” (quoting Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 227, 237 (BIA 2014)));
see also Conde Quevedo, 947 F.3d at 1243 (proposed social group lacked social
distinction because the record failed to establish its members are perceived or
recognized as a group by the society in question). Thus, Guevara de Rodriguez
failed to establish she was or would be persecuted on account of a protected
ground, see Garcia v. Wilkinson, 988 F.3d 1136, 1143 (9th Cir. 2021) (“The

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applicant must demonstrate a nexus between her past or feared harm and a
protected ground.” (citation omitted)), and her asylum and withholding of removal
claims fail.
The temporary stay of removal remains in place until the mandate issues.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

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