Jessica Martinez-Beltrand v. Attorney General United States

536 F. App'x 243
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedSeptember 12, 2013
Docket13-1990
StatusUnpublished

This text of 536 F. App'x 243 (Jessica Martinez-Beltrand v. Attorney General United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jessica Martinez-Beltrand v. Attorney General United States, 536 F. App'x 243 (3d Cir. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner Jessica Carolina Martinez-Beltrand petitions for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the decision of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We will deny the petition for review.

Martinez-Beltrand, a citizen of Honduras, arrived in the United States in 2004. The Department of Homeland Security charged her with being removable under section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)®, as an alien who was present in the United States without being admitted.

*245 Martinez-Beltrand conceded that she was removable as charged, but applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief, claiming that she had been persecuted in Honduras by gang members due to her wealth. She alleged that this persecution began in 2004, when gang members came to the funeral home that her family operates and asked her to give them money and join the gang; they promised to come back in the future for her answer. Martinez-Beltrand was so upset by this encounter that she left and never returned to the funeral home, and months later departed for the United States. Martinez-Beltrand’s family has continued to operate the business, and gang members have periodically called asking for money (but have never returned in person). When the gang members call, Martinez-Beltrand’s family threatens to call the police, and the gang members quickly hang up. However, in 2008, Martinez-Belt-rand’s stepbrother was murdered in his home. Martinez-Beltrand acknowledges that she does not know who committed the crime; however, she suspects that the gang did, because gang members talked to her stepbrother on one occasion eight months before the murder.

The IJ concluded that Martinez-Belt-rand was removable, finding that she failed to meet her respective burdens of proof for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief. The BIA then dismissed Martinez-Beltrand’s appeal. First, the BIA concluded that the harm that Martinez-Beltrand suffered did not rise to the level of past persecution. Next, the BIA ruled that Martinez-Beltrand had failed to show that the gang’s harassment was based on a statutorily protected ground. The BIA likewise perceived no error in the IJ’s conclusion that Martinez-Beltrand had not shown that she would suffer future persecution if removed to Honduras. Finally, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s ruling that Martinez-Beltrand had not established eligibility for CAT relief. Martinez-Beltrand then filed a timely petition for review with this Court.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252. Because the BIA issued its own opinion, we review its decision rather than the IJ’s. Roye v. Att’y Gen., 693 F.3d 333, 339 (3d Cir.2012). We must uphold the agency’s factual findings, including its findings as to whether Martinez-Beltrand has demonstrated past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution, if they are “supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” Kayembe v. Ashcroft, 334 F.3d 231, 234 (3d Cir.2003). We will reverse a finding of fact only if “any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B).

Martinez-Beltrand first argues that she is entitled to asylum because she has suffered past persecution. To be eligible for relief due to past persecution, aliens must show, among other things, that they were victims of “an incident, or incidents, that rise to the level of persecution.” Gao v. Ashcroft, 299 F.3d 266, 272 (3d Cir.2002) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Martinez-Beltrand failed to show past persecution. We have upheld agency conclusions that persecution cannot be shown by minor assaults that do not require medical care, see Jarbough v. Att’y Gen., 483 F.3d 184, 191 (3d Cir.2007), or unfulfilled threats, see Li v. Att’y Gen., 400 F.3d 157, 164 (3d Cir.2005). Here, while Martinez-Beltrand was allegedly harassed by gang members, who attempted to extort money from her, it was reasonable for the BIA to conclude that this did not rise to the level of persecution. See *246 Abdille v. Ashcroft, 242 F.3d 477, 494 (3d Cir.2001) (“[OJrdinary criminal activity does not rise to the level of persecution necessary to establish eligibility for asylum”)- Moreover, while Martinez-Belt-rand’s stepbrother was murdered by unnamed people for unknown reasons, she presented no evidence that the murder was committed “as a means of targeting [her],” and thus this incident does not support her claim of past persecution. Too Jiang v. Gonzales, 500 F.3d 137, 141 (2d Cir.2007). Finally, we are also satisfied that the BIA properly considered the cumulative effect of these incidents.

For similar reasons, we also conclude that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Martinez-Beltrand failed to show that she has a well-founded fear of future persecution. A future-persecution claim requires the applicant to demonstrate a subjective fear of persecution and that her fear is objectively reasonable. See Lie v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 530, 536 (3d Cir.2005). To satisfy the objective prong, the applicant must show either that (1) “she would be individually singled out for persecution” or (2) there is a “pattern or practice” in the home country of persecuting similarly situated people. Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

Martinez-Beltrand argues that she would be individually singled out for persecution in Honduras; in support of this claim, she notes that she was harassed in 2004, that the gang has since harassed her family, and that her stepbrother was murdered. However, as the BIA observed, since Martinez-Beltrand left Honduras nearly a decade ago, gang members have never even asked about her, let alone made any effort to find her. Moreover, notwithstanding the sporadic phone calls from the gang members to the funeral home, the business has continued unabated, and Martinez-Beltrand’s mother has never been harmed or even seriously threatened.

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536 F. App'x 243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jessica-martinez-beltrand-v-attorney-general-united-states-ca3-2013.