Madrid-Hernandez v. Bondi

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 15 2025

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

GIGSI PAOLA MADRID- No. 24-1548 HERNANDEZ; ARJEN ALEXANDER Agency Nos. MEJIA-MADRID; SOFIA MONSERRAT A240-933-998 AVELAR-MADRID; LYAM ADIEL A240-933-999 PUERTO-MADRID,

A240-934-050 A240-934-051

Petitioners,

v. MEMORANDUM* PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted April 10, 2025** Pasadena, California

Before: BADE and SUNG, Circuit Judges, and SIMON, District Judge.***

Petitioner Gigsi Paola Madrid-Hernandez and her three minor children, *

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 Michael H. Simon, United States District Judge for the District of Oregon, sitting by designation. natives and citizens of Honduras (Petitioners), petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissal of their appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) decision denying applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).1 We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny the petition.

1. To be eligible for asylum or statutory withholding of removal, a petitioner must establish that she suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution based on a protected ground. Rodriguez Tornes v. Garland, 993 F.3d 743, 750–51 (9th Cir. 2021). Because the BIA relied solely upon the failure to establish a protected ground, our review of the asylum and withholding of removal claims is limited to that issue. See Garcia v. Wilkinson, 988 F.3d 1136, 1142 (9th Cir. 2021).

The BIA concluded that Petitioners waived any challenge to the IJ’s determination that the two proposed particular social groups—“the Madrid Family” and “Hondurans who have participated in investigations of MS gang crimes”—were not cognizable because both proposed groups lacked particularity and social distinction. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d). Petitioners do not challenge the BIA’s waiver determination in their opening brief and therefore have forfeited the issue before this court. See Hernandez v. Garland, 47 F.4th 908, 916 (9th Cir. 2022) (explaining that arguments that are not developed in a petitioner’s opening brief are forfeited). The BIA’s non-cognizability finding is dispositive of the claims for asylum and withholding of removal.2 See Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563 F.3d 855, 862 (9th Cir. 2009) (denying petition for review when proposed particular social group was not cognizable), abrogated on other grounds by Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc). Therefore, we deny the petition for review as to these claims.

2. As to CAT protection, substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that Petitioners have not demonstrated that it is more likely than not that she would be subjected to torture by, at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. Rodriguez-Zuniga v. Garland, 69 F.4th 1012, 1023 (9th Cir. 2023).

PETITION DENIED.3