Jhensy Rosmery Pena-Nolasco v. U.S. Attorney General


USCA11 Case: 20-10019 Date Filed: 10/30/2020 Page: 1 of 11 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-10019 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A206-312-078 JHENSY ROSMERY PENA-NOLASCO, DOUGLAS FRANCISCO LOPEZ-PENA, JHENSY JUDITH LOPEZ-PENA, Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (October 30, 2020) Before NEWSOM, BRASHER, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 20-10019 Date Filed: 10/30/2020 Page: 2 of 11 Jhensy Pena-Nolasco, her son Douglas Lopez-Pena, and her daughter Jhensy Lopez-Pena seek review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision affirming the immigration judge’s denial of Pena-Nolasco’s request for asylum under Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (2018); withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3); and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c). The BIA affirmed the immigration judge’s decision on the grounds that Pena-Nolasco had failed to establish (1) past persecution on account of membership in a protected group, (2) a well-founded fear of future persecution, and (3) that the Honduran government is unable or unwilling to protect her or that the immigration judge erred when it found that she could avoid persecution by relocating within Honduras. Pena-Nolasco petitioned this Court for review. Because substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision, we deny the petition for review. BACKGROUND Petitioners in this case are a mother, son, and daughter, all of whom are natives and citizens of Honduras. Lead Petitioner Pena-Nolasco and her son Douglas entered the United States together without inspection on November 2, 2013, and were placed in removal proceedings shortly after arrival. Her daughter Jhensy entered without inspection on or about January 15, 2014. Shortly after Jhensy arrived, she was placed in removal proceedings, and her case was consolidated with that of her mother and 2 USCA11 Case: 20-10019 Date Filed: 10/30/2020 Page: 3 of 11 brother. Pena-Nolasco submitted an application for asylum on November 5, 2014. She listed her son and daughter as derivatives to her asylum claim and indicated that she sought protection on account of her membership in a family-based particular social group. She filed an updated application on February 1, 2018, containing support for her withholding of removal and CAT claims. Pena-Nolasco testified that she was born in Honduras in the municipality of San Francisco de Ojuera, Department of Santa Barbara. She married her husband, Francisco Lopez, in 2010 and moved to his hometown of San Pedro Sula in the Rivera Hernandez neighborhood, where his extended family lived. Her husband’s brother, Cristian Cecilio Lopez, was a neighborhood leader in the MS-13 gang there. Cecilio sold drugs and firearms, extorted local businesses, and defended MS-13 operations from interference by rival gangs. At one point, Cecilio himself killed the brother of a member of a rival gang known as Mara 18. Pena-Nolasco testified that in response to that killing, members of Mara 18 sought revenge. She testified that members ...

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