Record supported IJ’s denial of alien’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal and CAT relief, even though alien argued that she left Guatemala with her two children after she began receiving series of anonymous notes asking for money and threatening her and her children if she refused to pay. Alien failed to establish nexus between instant threats and any alleged protected grounds, i.e., single females with no male head-of-household or well-to-do persons opposed to gangs. Moreover, record contained no evidence that risk faced by alien was distinct because of her opposition to gangs or her status as single female with no male head of household. Fact that there is general level of violence against females in Guatemala was not sufficient by itself to support alien’s claim that she was singled out for persecution.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Immigration