Opinion
No. 09-60101 Summary Calendar.
November 4, 2009.
Mario Caballero, Houston, TX, for Petitioner.
Nehal H. Kamani, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Sandra M. Heathman, U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services, Houston, TX, Thomas Ward Hussey, Director, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Respondent.
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, BIA No. A200 086 843.
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, CLEMENT and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.
Angel Gabriel Guevara-Lopez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the immigration judge's decision denying his application for withholding of removal. He avers that he will be persecuted on account of his membership in two particular social groups, i.e., young Salvadoran males targeted for recruitment by the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) street gang and his family unit.
We review the BIA's determination that an alien is not entitled to withholding of removal for substantial evidence and will not reverse the BIA's decision unless the evidence compels a contrary conclusion. Chen v. Gonzales, 470 F.3d 1131, 1134 (5th Cir. 2006). To qualify for withholding of removal, the alien "must demonstrate a `clear probability' of persecution upon return." Roy v. Ashcroft, 389 F.3d 132, 138 (5th Cir. 2004). "A clear probability means that it is more likely than not that the applicant's life or freedom would be threatened by persecution on account of either his race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." Id. To establish that he is a member of a particular social group, Guevara-Lopez must show that he shares a common immutable characteristic that he cannot change or should not be required to change because it is fundamental to his individual identity or conscience. See Mwembie v. Gonzales, 443 F.3d 405, 414-15 (5th Cir. 2006).
The BIA did not err in concluding that Guevara-Lopez did not demonstrate that he was a member of a particular social group entitled to protection. The putative group of young Salvadoran males targeted for recruitment by the MS street gang is overly broad and does not establish a meaningful basis for distinguishing Guevara-Lopez from other people. Guevara-Lopez also has failed to establish either that society would perceive members of a family unit opposed to MS as a group or that his family is in a substantially different situation than anyone in the general population who resists MS or is perceived as a threat to its interests, i.e., Guevara-Lopez submitted no evidence that the alleged threats against him and his family were committed for reasons other than MS's general interest in increasing its influence by recruiting others to fill its ranks. Accordingly, there is substantial evidence to support the BIA's denial withholding of removal. See Zhang v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 339, 344 (5th Cir. 2005).
The petition for review is DENIED.