Dinora Henriquez-Paiz v. MATTHEW G. WHITAKER, Acting Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
DINORA HENRIQUEZ-PAIZ,
Petitioner,
v.
MATTHEW G. WHITAKER, Acting
Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 16-73446
Agency No. A087-934-847
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted December 18, 2018
San Francisco, California
Before: M. SMITH and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI,** Judge.
Petitioner Dinora Henriquez-Paiz, a native and citizen of El Salvador,
appeals the denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief
under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8
U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1). Because substantial evidence supports the Board of
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge for the United States Court of
International Trade, sitting by designation.
FILED
JAN 2 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision, we deny the petition.
Because Henriquez-Paiz conceded at oral argument that she has not
demonstrated past persecution, she is not entitled to a presumption of future
persecution. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(2). Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s
conclusion that Henriquez-Paiz failed to show that she has a well-founded fear of
future persecution on account of her family membership. Despite receiving several
threatening notes from MS-13 gang members, Henriquez-Paiz’s family was never
harmed. As the BIA explained, the fact that her family remained safe “undercuts
the reasonableness of [her] fear of future harm.”
Because Henriquez-Paiz failed to show that she is entitled to asylum, she
cannot meet the higher standard for withholding of removal. See 8 C.F.R. §
1208.16(b) (requiring that the risk of future persecution be more likely than not).
Finally, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s denial of CAT relief
because Henriquez-Paiz failed to show that she would more likely than not be
subjected to torture upon her return to El Salvador. She has never been tortured in
the past, and her family has remained safe despite receiving similar threats.
PETITION DENIED.

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