United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 18-1911 ___________________________ Linabel Mejia-Ramos lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: May 14, 2019 Filed: August 15, 2019 ____________ Before COLLOTON, BEAM, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ BEAM, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Linabel Mejia-Ramos (Linabel) seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) denial of her request for asylum and/or withholding of removal. Because the record does not compel reversal of the BIA's determinations, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND Linabel is a native and citizen of Honduras who entered the United States on or about January 3, 2014, when she was 26 years old. On January 22, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated removal proceedings against her and Linabel filed an application for asylum and for withholding of removal. During the removal proceedings, Linabel testified that she is married, has one child, and has family still remaining in Honduras, including her mother and four siblings. However, her father and one of her brothers were kidnapped in 2008 and have not been heard from since that time. On or about July 16, 2008, on a day that her family attended a funeral of a friend within ten minutes of their house, Linabel's father and brother approached an intersection in their vehicle. When they stopped due to traffic, they were kidnapped for ransom money by men wearing police vests. Other family members were not with them when this occurred. Witnesses later told Linabel that six people got out of a car wearing vests with the initials "DGIC" on them, which Linabel testified was, at least at one time, a division of the police department. Linabel was not certain if that particular division still existed, however. Linabel also noted that oftentimes gang members wore such vests as well. Linabel and her mother went to several police stations for assistance regarding the kidnapping but there has been no resolution to-date. The family received ransom calls that day from unknown individuals but the family never heard from anyone again regarding ransom, the whereabouts, or fate of Linabel's father and brother. Linabel testified that her father was a businessman who owned a coffee plantation and a carpenter's shop, was known throughout the community, and lived comfortably. Another notable incident involving Linabel occurred a few days after the kidnapping of her father and brother. Linabel and her cousin were driving in a vehicle and a car passed them on the road. The car then stopped abruptly as if to cut them off. Linabel's cousin was able to turn around and avoid any confrontation with -2- that vehicle and the other vehicle proceeded on its way. Then in 2013, five years after the kidnapping of her family members and her own car blockage incident, Linabel received a phone call from an anonymous person who told her that what happened to her father and brother would happen ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals