Gervacio-Melo v. Bondi

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: December 8, 2025
• Docket: 25-2107
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 8 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

EMILIO GERVACIO-MELO, No. 25-2107 Agency No. Petitioner, A216-625-597 v. MEMORANDUM* PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General,

Respondent.

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

Submitted December 4, 2025** Portland, Oregon

Before: McKEOWN and SUNG, Circuit Judges, and FITZWATER, District Judge.***

Emilio Gervacio-Melo (“Gervacio-Melo”) petitions for review of a Board of

Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision affirming the denial of his application for

* 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). *** The Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, sitting by designation. cancellation of removal. The only question before us is whether Gervacio-Melo

fulfilled his burden under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D) to demonstrate “exceptional

and extremely unusual hardship” to a qualifying relative. We review for substantial

evidence BIA hardship determinations. Gonzalez-Juarez v. Bondi, 137 F.4th 996,

1005 (9th Cir. 2025). “Where, as here, the BIA agrees with the [Immigration

Judge’s (“IJ”s)] decision and also adds its own reasoning, we review the decision

of the BIA and those parts of the IJ’s decision upon which it relies.” Duran-

Rodriguez v. Barr, 918 F.3d 1025, 1027–28 (9th Cir. 2019). We have jurisdiction

under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D), and we deny the petition.

The record does not support Gervacio-Melo’s argument that the BIA and IJ

failed to consider evidence about his daughter’s young age or the possibility that

the child’s mother may not care for her upon Gervacio-Melo’s removal. The IJ

noted Gervacio-Melo’s daughter’s age and analyzed circumstances related to her

care and schooling before making its determination. Further, Gervacio-Melo points

to no evidence to support his claim that the child’s mother may “simply

disappear.” Speculative testimony cannot compel a conclusion that Gervacio-Melo

satisfied the hardship requirement. See Maini v. I.N.S., 212 F.3d 1167, 1173 (9th

Cir. 2000) (noting that “personal conjecture and speculation . . . is no substitute for

substantial evidence” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

2 25-2107 Moreover, the BIA and IJ were not obligated to specifically address

Gervacio-Melo’s country-conditions evidence or his community ties. As to the

former, we recently explained that generalized country-conditions evidence “that

applies equally to a large proportion of removal cases” cannot satisfy the

“extraordinary and extremely unusual” hardship standard. Gonzalez-Juarez, 137

F.4th at 1007–08. As to the latter, the IJ properly considered Gervacio-Melo’s

community ties when it addressed whether granting cancellation of removal would

be an appropriate exercise of discretion. But Gervacio-Melo does not explain how

that evidence was relevant to the hardship determination, let alone “highly

probative” or “potentially dispositive” of hardship. See Castillo v. Barr, 980 F.3d

1278, 1283 (9th Cir. 2020) (quoting Cole v. Holder, 659 F.3d 762, 772 (9th Cir.

2011)). The BIA and IJ thus were not required to consider evidence about

community ties for that purpose.

PETITION DENIED.1

1 The stay of removal will dissolve upon the issuance of the mandate.

3 25-2107