Eliseo Ismael Chanchavac-Leon v. U.S. Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________

No. 24-14057

Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

ELISEO ISMAEL CHANCHAVAC-LEON, Petitioner,

versus

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,

Respondent.

____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A-215-866-159

____________________

Before BRANCH, LUCK, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

P ER CURIAM:

Eliseo Ismael Chanchavac-Leon petitions this Court for re- view of the Board of Immigration Appeals's dismissal of his appeal of an immigration judge's denial of his application for asylum,

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2 Opinion of the Court 24-14057 withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. After careful review, we deny the petition.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Chanchavac-Leon is a Guatemalan native and citizen. The Department of Homeland Security served him with a notice to ap- pear before an immigration judge, charging that he was removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act. At his initial removal hearing, Chanchavac-Leon, through counsel, admitted the factual allegations contained in the notice to appear and conceded the charge of removal. The immigration judge sustained the remova- bility charge.

Chanchavac-Leon filed an application for asylum, withhold- ing of removal, and relief under the Convention. In his application, he explained that he was a member of the K'iché indigenous group. He recounted two incidents that led him to leave Guatemala. First, on his way to a convenience store, he was followed by three adults. He admitted he "did not know them or their intentions." He was able to get away from the individuals by hiding and running home. The second incident also occurred during a trip to the store. Five men approached Chanchavac-Leon, grabbed him, and dis- cussed whether they were going to kidnap him or force him to pay a ransom in one week. Chanchavac-Leon did not recognize any of the men but saw that they were armed with knives. The men also threatened to kill him if he did not join their criminal activities. They hit him in his face and stomach. But when a car approached, the men fled, and Chanchavac-Leon ran home. Chanchavac-Leon

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24-14057 Opinion of the Court 3 did not report either incident to the police. His parents advised him to leave Guatemala.

Chanchavac-Leon submitted two supporting documents: a news article about the arrest of a group of five kidnappers and a Guatemala human rights report issued by the United States De- partment of State. At the merits hearing, Chanchavac-Leon testi- fied about the two incidents described in his application. He ex- plained he was afraid to return to Guatemala because he thought he may be threatened again. When the immigration judge in- quired about Chanchavac-Leon's social group for the asylum appli- cation, Chanchavac-Leon's counsel defined the group as "[c]hildren targeted for recruitment."

The immigration judge denied Chanchavac-Leon's applica- tion for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Con- vention. The immigration judge made findings of fact consistent with Chanchavac-Leon's application and testimony. Specifically, as to the second incident, the immigration judge acknowledged that the five men had discussed whether "they were going to try to re- cruit [Chanchavac-Leon] into their criminal organization or at- tempt to abduct him and perhaps kidnap and extort from him."

Based on those facts, the immigration judge still found that Chanchavac-Leon was not entitled to asylum or withholding of re- moval because he failed to establish a nexus between his past per- secution and his proposed social group, "children targeted for re- cruitment." The immigration judge explained that "[w]hile the at- tempted kidnapping of [Chanchavac-Leon] is a serious criminal

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4 Opinion of the Court 24-14057 offense, it's not dispositive in determining persecution." As to the claim for relief under the Convention, the immigration judge found that Chanchavac-Leon had "failed to establish that it is the [g]overnment of Guatemala or persons that would act as the gov- ernment's agents or assigns that would wish to torture him now or in the future."

Chanchavac-Leon appealed the immigration judge's deci- sion to the board. The board dismissed the appeal. As to asylum and withholding of removal, the board agreed with the immigra- tion judge's determination that Chanchavac-Leon "did not estab- lish a nexus between the harm he experienced and fears in Guate- mala and his membership in the proposed particular social group."

The board reasoned that the immigration judge "properly found that the evidence of record does not support the . . . contention that there is a nexus" as opposed to a "fear of harm . . . based on general criminal violence." The board also affirmed the immigra- tion judge's denial of Convention relief because Chanchavac-Leon

"did not establish that it is more likely than not that the Guatema- lan government or a person acting in an official capacity would par- ticipate in, or with prior awareness, acquiesce to his torture."

Chanchavac-Leon now petitions for review.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Unless the board expressly adopts an immigration judge's opinion, we review only the board's decision. Jiang v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 568 F.3d 1252, 1256 (11th Cir. 2009). When the board explic- itly agrees with the findings of the immigration judge, we review

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24-14057 Opinion of the Court 5 both decisions on those issues. Jeune v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 810 F.3d 792, 799 (11th Cir. 2016). "We review de novo the conclusions of law by the [b]oard and [i]mmigration [j]udge, but we review findings of fact for substantial evidence to support them." Kazemzadeh v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 577 F.3d 1341, 1350 (11th Cir. 2009). Under the sub- stantial evidence standard, "we must affirm if the decision . . . is supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole." Silva v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 448 F.3d 1229, 1237 (11th Cir. 2006) (quotation omitted).

DISCUSSION

Chanchavac-Leon argues that the board erred in affirming the immigration judge's denial of asylum based on a lack of nexus between the incidents and his proposed social group. He also con- tends that the board's discussion of his asylum and Convention claims lacked reasoned consideration. We address each issue in turn.¹

Nexus Determination

Chanchavac-Leon argues that the board erred in affirming the immigration judge's finding that there was no nexus between a protected ground and his persecution. To establish eligibility for asylum, an applicant must show that he suffered past persecution,

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6 Opinion of the Court 24-14057 or has a well-founded fear of future persecution, "on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion[.]" 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(A); see Sanchez-Castro

v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 998 F.3d 1281, 1286 (11th Cir. 2021). This is known as the nexus requirement. Sanchez-Castro, 998 F.3d at 1286. So long as one protected ground is a "central reason for persecuting the ap- plicant[,]" 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(i), it does not matter that the ap- plicant's "persecutors may have additional motives for their ac- tions," Rivera v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 487 F.3d 815, 821 (11th Cir. 2007). As an initial matter, Chanchavac-Leon asserts that the board and immigration judge erred in failing to address whether he was persecuted on account of his status as a K'iché indigenous person. But, as the government points out, Chanchavac-Leon never argued below—to the immigration judge or the board—that he was per- secuted on that basis. As a claim-processing rule, we require an applicant to exhaust all administrative remedies. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1); Laguna Rivera v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 130 F.4th 915, 925 (11th Cir. 2025). Where, as here, the government asserts the applicant did not meet the exhaustion requirement, we will not review an issue not properly raised before the board. Laguna Rivera, 130 F.4th at 925. Thus, we will not consider Chanchavac-Leon's argument that his status as a K'iché indigenous person should have been ad- dressed as a protected ground.

Chanchavac-Leon also contends that the board and immi- gration judge misapplied the law by finding that his attackers' crim- inal motives precluded him from establishing a nexus to a

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24-14057 Opinion of the Court 7 protected ground. But, contrary to Chanchavac-Leon's argument, neither the immigration judge's decision nor the board's misapply the law. The immigration judge correctly stated that private vio- lence is not evidence of persecution on account of a protected ground. See Ruiz v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 440 F.3d 1247, 1258 (11th Cir. 2006). But the immigration judge did not suggest that any criminal motives behind Chanchavac-Leon's attack precluded him from es- tablishing a nexus. In fact, the immigration judge explicitly stated that the criminal acts were "not dispositive in determining persecu- tion." Instead, the immigration judge determined there was no nexus based on the facts of the case. The board agreed with the immigration judge that the record evidence showed general crimi- nal violence but did not demonstrate a nexus between the persecu- tion and the proposed social group. Thus, neither the immigration judge nor the board misapplied the law in determining whether Chanchavac-Leon established a nexus.

Reasoned Consideration of Evidence

Next, Chanchavac-Leon argues that the board failed to give reasoned consideration to the evidence he submitted in support of his asylum and Convention claims. To enable our review of a board's decision, the board must give reasoned consideration to an applicant's claims. Ali v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 931 F.3d 1327, 1333 (11th Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We re- view de novo an assertion that the board failed to give reasoned consideration. Id. In reviewing an application for relief, the board must consider all evidence submitted but need not address

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8 Opinion of the Court 24-14057 specifically each claim or piece of evidence presented. Indrawati v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 779 F.3d 1284, 1302 (11th Cir. 2015), overruled in part on other grounds by Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, 598 U.S. 411 (2023). The reasoned consideration requirement exists merely "to ensure that the [immigration judge] and the [board] considered the issues raised and announced their decisions in terms sufficient to enable review." Id. (citation omitted).

The board gave reasoned consideration to Chanchavac- Leon's evidence in support of his asylum and Convention claims. In assessing the asylum claim, the board agreed with the immigra- tion judge in finding that "the evidence of record does not support the . . . contention that there is a nexus." The immigration judge's findings of fact were consistent with Chanchavac-Leon's descrip- tion of the two incidents. The immigration judge acknowledged that the men in the second incident considered recruiting Chanchavac-Leon into their criminal organization, but concluded that the evidence did not show the perpetrators attacked him be- cause he was a child targeted for recruitment. Similarly, the board affirmed the immigration judge's denial of Convention relief based on a lack of evidence. The immigration judge acknowledged the "general conditions . . . of criminal up- heaval" in Guatemala, but declined to find that those conditions established that Chanchavac-Leon was likely to face torture with the requisite state action as required to receive relief under the Convention. Chanchavac-Leon provided no evidence that the Gua- temalan government or its officials would participate in, or

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24-14057 Opinion of the Court 9 acquiesce to, his torture. In fact, the news article he submitted showed that the Guatemalan government engaged in activities to combat violence by arresting a group of kidnappers. Thus, the board's decision gave reasoned consideration to the evidence, even if it did not specifically discuss each piece. See Ali, 931 F.3d at 1333-

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CONCLUSION

In sum, Chanchavac-Leon's petition is due to be denied be- cause the board correctly applied the law and gave reasoned con- sideration to the evidence.

PETITION DENIED.

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