Deras-Velasquez v. Blanche

Case: 25-60698 Document: 41-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/13/2026

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED August 13, 2026 No. 25-60698 Lyle W. Cayce Summary Calendar Clerk ____________ Nidia Damaris Deras-Velasquez; Kenneth Yesser Munoz-Deras, Petitioners, versus Todd Wallace Blanche, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. ______________________________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency Nos. A206 188 142, A206 188 143 ______________________________ Before King, Higginson, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam: * Nidia Damaris Deras-Velasquez and Kenneth Yesser Munoz-Deras, natives and citizens of Honduras, petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding an immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of withholding of removal.

Case: 25-60698 Document: 41-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/13/2026

No. 25-60698

The petitioners do not contest the BIA’s determination that they waived the issue of whether their proposed particular social groups are cognizable. See Chambers v. Mukasey, 520 F.3d 445, 448 n.1 (5th Cir. 2008).

The BIA’s waiver determination is a sufficient basis to deny the petition for review as to their withholding of removal claims. See Santos-Alvarado v. Barr, 967 F.3d 428, 440 n.13 (5th Cir. 2020); Munoz-De Zelaya v. Garland, 80 F.4th 689, 693-94 (5th Cir. 2023).

The petitioners also argue that their due process rights were violated because the IJ was biased against them at their merits hearing. The Government correctly asserts that the argument is unexhausted, see 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1); Monteon-Camargo v. Barr, 918 F.3d 423, 429 (5th Cir. 2019), and thus we do not consider the petitioners’ due process claim, see Carreon v. Garland, 71 F.4th 247, 257 (5th Cir. 2023).

The petition for review is DENIED.