Luke LeFever v. Ivan Castellanos

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 23-3120
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Lesly Yazel Escobar Moreno De Cancinos; B.A.C.E.
lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioners
v.
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of the United States
lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent
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Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
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Submitted: May 21, 2024
Filed: July 9, 2024
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, SHEPHERD, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Guatemalan citizens Lesly Yazel Escobar Moreno De Cancinos and her minor
child, B.A.C.E., petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals
(BIA). Having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, this court denies the petition.

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This court finds no error in the determination that Escobar Moreno failed to
establish a nexus between her proposed particular social groups (PSG) and the harm
she feared in Guatemala. See Silvestre-Giron v. Barr, 949 F.3d 1114, 1119 & n.3 (8th
Cir. 2020) (nexus is a factual determination reviewed for substantial evidence and
will not be reversed unless the record evidence is so compelling that no reasonable
fact-finder could fail to find in petitioner's favor). Because Escobar Moreno failed
to establish a nexus, the agency did not err in denying her application for asylum or
withholding of removal. See Tino v. Garland, 13 F.4th 708, 710 (8th Cir. 2021) (per
curiam) (where substantial evidence supported determination that noncitizen failed
to demonstrate nexus between persecution and PSG, failure was dispositive of asylum
claim); Guled v. Mukasey, 515 F.3d 872, 881 (8th Cir. 2008) (noncitizen who does
not meet well-founded fear standard for asylum cannot meet higher "clear probability
of persecution" standard for withholding of removal). This court also concludes that
the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying the petitioners’ request for
humanitarian asylum. See Mejia-Lopez v. Barr, 944 F.3d 764, 768 (8th Cir. 2019)
(humanitarian asylum requires petitioner to demonstrate past persecution on account
of protected ground).
The petition is denied. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
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