Coronado Campos-Merino v. Eric Holder, Jr., No. 12-1401 (4th Cir. 2012)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 12-1401 CORONADO ALFREDO CAMPOS-MERINO, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: October 19, 2012 Decided: October 30, 2012 Before MOTZ, SHEDD, and AGEE, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Arnedo S. Valera, LAW OFFICES OF VALERA & ASSOCIATES, Fairfax, Virginia, for Petitioner. Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Erica B. Miles, Senior Litigation Counsel, Nehal H. Kamani, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Coronado Alfredo Campos-Merino, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals ( Board ) immigration protection order judge s under order the dismissing denying Convention his appeal withholding Against of from the removal and For the Torture. reasons that follow, we deny the petition for review. Campos-Merino first contends that the immigration judge erred in finding that he was ineligible for withholding of removal because he failed to establish a nexus between one of the five statutorily enumerated protected grounds and his past mistreatment a death threat levied by gang members and his fear of future harm by the same gang. discerned no determination clear for error in this substantial On appeal, the Board finding. evidence. We review I.N.S. v. this Elias- Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992); Agbornchong v. Holder, 383 F. App x 319, 322-23 (4th Cir. 2010) (per curiam) (unpublished after argument). Withholding of removal is mandatory for an alien who establishes, by a clear probability, that his life or freedom would be threatened nationality, . membership . . in because a of [his] particular race, social political opinion, if removed to his home country. religion, group, or 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A) (2006); see Camara v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 361, 2 370 (4th Cir. 2004). more likely than persecution. A clear probability means that it is not that the alien would be subject to I.N.S. v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 429-30 (1984). Persecution occurs on account of a protected ground if that ground serves as at least one central reason for the feared persecution. Crespin-Valladares v. Holder, 632 F.3d 117, 127 (4th Cir. 2011) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(i) (2006)). central reason is one that is more than A incidental, tangential, superficial, or subordinate to another reason for harm. Quinteros-Mendoza v. Holder, 556 F.3d 159, 164 (4th Cir. 2009) (quoting In re J-B-N-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 208, 214 (BIA 2007)). We have reviewed the record and readily conclude that substantial evidence supports the finding that Campos-Merino failed to show that a protected ground was one central reason for the gang s death threat or the future harm Campos-Merino fears would befall him and his family if they returned to El Salvador. Rather, the record evidence supports the immigration judge s determination threat, as well as that the the gang s central ongoing reason for interest the in death Campos- Merino s whereabouts, was to ensure that Campos-Merino did not inform the police of the gang murder that he witnessed. therefore uphold the denial of withholding of removal. We Accord Vasquez v. I.N.S., 177 F.3d 62, 65 (1st Cir. 1999) (upholding 3 ruling that petitioners did not establish nexus between wellfounded fear of future persecution and an imputed anti-guerilla, pro-government political opinion, because substantial evidence supported determination that threats and assault were motivated by desire to prevent lead petitioner from giving the police information regarding the guerillas assassination). We affirmed by also the Against Torture. uphold Board, the to immigration deny relief judge s under the decision, Convention Substantial evidence supports the ruling that Campos-Merino failed to establish that it is more likely than not that he would be tortured if removed to El Salvador at the instigation Salvadoran 1208.18 of or torture. the consent See government. (2012). Salvadoran with 8 C.F.R. Campos-Merino government has any or acquiescence of §§ 1208.16(c)(1), did not interest in contend the (2), that subjecting the him to And the record, which contains two Department of State reports that discuss the government s ongoing efforts to combat gang violence, simply does not compel the conclusion that the gang operates with the acquiescence of the Salvadoran government or even that the government turns a blind eye to the gang s criminal activities. (4th Cir. explaining See Lizama v. Holder, 629 F.3d 440, 449-50 2011) (recognizing that the that Salvadoran a State government Department does not report have a policy or practice of refusing assistance to persons who receive 4 threats or substantial are otherwise evidence victims (internal of gang quotation marks violence and is alteration omitted)). Accordingly, dispense with oral we deny argument the petition because the for facts review. and We legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. PETITION DENIED 5
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