Sanchez-Amador v. Garland, No. 20-60367 (5th Cir. 2022)
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Petitioner, a native and citizen of Honduras, sought asylum in the United States after the Department of Homeland Security charged that she, her husband, and her minor son were removable as aliens present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. The immigration judge (“IJ”) and Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) rejected her application.
Petitioner contended that she had been sexually abused throughout her childhood by various males in her life. Further, she alleged that the MS-13 gang threatened her. Despite the police claiming they would investigate the allegations within a few weeks, petitioner fled to the United States.
To obtain asylum, petitioner must demonstrate that she is a “refugee” by showing that she has suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of a protected ground. 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(42)(A). Here, petitioner's persecutors were nongovernment actors. Thus, she must also establish that the authorities were “unable or unwilling to control” them. Tesfamichael v. Gonzales, 469 F.3d 109 (5th Cir. 2006). The court found that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that petitioner did not establish that the government is unable or unwilling to control the persecutors. The fact that police could not complete their investigation to petitioner's satisfaction within a single week does not compel the conclusion that they were unable or unwilling to help her. That alone defeats petitioner's asylum application; the court declined to reach the alternate bases for the BIA’s denial.
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