De Paz-Machado v. Bondi

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: February 7, 2025
• Docket: 23-2549
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED FEB 7 2025 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

NORMA MARICELA DE PAZ- No. 23-2549 MACHADO; ALVARO ALEXI Agency Nos. BERDOMO-DE PAZ; JUSTIN ESAU A206-880-185 BERDOMO-DE PAZ, A206-880-186 A206-880-187 Petitioners,

v. MEMORANDUM*

PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals

Submitted February 5, 2025** Pasadena, California

Before: WARDLAW, CALLAHAN, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.

Petitioner Norma Maricela De Paz-Machado and her two sons (derivative

beneficiaries pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(3)), natives and citizens of El

* 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). Salvador, seek review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”)

dismissing an appeal from an order of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying her

application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention

Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and we

deny the petition for review.

When, as here, the BIA affirms an IJ’s decision without an opinion, we treat

the IJ’s decision as the final agency action. See Antonio v. Garland, 58 F.4th 1067,

1072 (9th Cir. 2023). We review the agency’s factual findings for substantial

evidence and must uphold them unless the evidence compels a contrary

conclusion. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 (1992); Bringas-

Rodriguez v. Sessions, 850 F.3d 1051, 1059 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc). We review

legal conclusions de novo. Plancarte Sauceda v. Garland, 23 F.4th 824, 831 (9th

Cir. 2022).

1. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s conclusion that De Paz-

Machado failed to establish a nexus between any past or feared harm and a

protected ground. The IJ found De Paz-Machado credible in describing her

encounters with members of the 18th Street gang. But, the IJ found that the gang’s

interest in confronting De Paz-Machado was to locate her partner and not in

harming her because of her membership in a particular social group (“PSG”) of

“women in El Salvador.” The IJ also concluded that De Paz-Machado did not tie

2 23-2549 any fears of future harm to this proposed PSG. The record does not compel a

contrary conclusion, and the lack of nexus defeats De Paz-Machado’s claims for

asylum and withholding. See Rodriguez-Zuniga v. Garland, 69 F.4th 1012, 1018

(9th Cir. 2023) (noting that where “the agency concludes that the petitioner has not

shown any nexus whatsoever, then the petitioner fails to establish” eligibility “for

both asylum and withholding”).

2. Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s conclusion that De Paz-

Machado did not establish eligibility for CAT relief. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2)

(requiring that “it is more likely than not” that torture will occur upon removal of

the applicant). The agency determined that De Paz-Machado had not demonstrated

past torture, “ordinarily the principal factor” in assessing whether an applicant will

likely experience future torture. Nuru v. Gonzales, 404 F.3d 1207, 1218 (9th Cir.

2005). Moreover, the generalized country conditions evidence De Paz-Machado

presented regarding the underenforcement of crimes against women does not

compel the conclusion that government officials would acquiesce in her future

torture. “[E]vidence that a government has been generally ineffective in preventing

or investigating criminal activities” does not “raise an inference that public

officials are likely to acquiesce in torture, absent evidence of corruption or other

inability or unwillingness to oppose criminal organizations.” Garcia-Milian v.

Holder, 755 F.3d 1026, 1034 (9th Cir. 2014). And here, the IJ noted that the

3 23-2549 country report also contained evidence that government officials were “taking

steps to prosecute impunity that still exists in El Salvador.”

The petition for review is DENIED. The stay of removal shall dissolve on

the issuance of the mandate.

4 23-2549