United States v. Tyree Skinner

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 25-1753
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Erika Garcia-Temaj; Y.J.G.
lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioners
v.
Pamela Bondi, 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: December 16, 2025
Filed: December 19, 2025
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, ERICKSON, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Guatemalan natives and citizens Erika Garcia-Temaj and her minor child,
Y.J.G., petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeal (BIA). An
immigration judge denied Garcia-Temaj’s applications for asylum, withholding of

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removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and the BIA
dismissed her appeal from that decision.1
We conclude that the agency properly denied asylum and withholding of
removal. We agree with the government that any challenge to whether Garcia-Temaj
experienced past persecution is unexhausted and waived, as the BIA deemed her to
have waived any argument, and she does not challenge that determination. See
Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, 598 U.S. 411, 423 (2023); Essel v. Garland, 89 F.4th 686,
691 (8th Cir. 2023); Martinez-Galarza v. Holder, 782 F.3d 990, 994 (8th Cir. 2015);
Pinos-Gonzalez v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 436, 440 (8th Cir. 2008); Chay-Velasquez v.
Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 751, 756 (8th Cir. 2004). As to whether she established a well-
founded fear of future persecution, we agree with the government that she failed to
exhaust the dispositive issue of whether internal relocation would be reasonable, as
the BIA also deemed her to have waived that issue in the counseled agency
proceedings, and she does not challenge that finding. See Guatemala-Pineda v.
Garland, 992 F.3d 682, 685 (8th Cir. 2021). In any event, the record does not compel
the conclusion that internal relocation would be unreasonable, see Padilla-Franco v.
Garland, 999 F.3d 604, 608-09 (8th Cir. 2021) (standard of review); De
Castro-Gutierrez v. Holder, 713 F.3d 375, 380 (8th Cir. 2013), or that she had an
objectively reasonable fear of particularized persecution, see Tegegn v. Holder, 702
F.3d 1142, 1145 (8th Cir. 2013). Because the failure to demonstrate past persecution
or a well-founded fear of persecution is dispositive of her claims for asylum and
withholding of removal, we do not reach the other issues raised, including whether
she established a nexus to a protected ground. See Cano v. Barr, 956 F.3d 1034, 1040
& n.4 (8th Cir. 2020).
1Y.J.G. was a derivative applicant on Garcia-Temaj’s asylum application. See
8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(3)(A); Fuentes v. Barr, 969 F.3d 865, 868 n.1 (8th Cir. 2020) (per
curiam).
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Furthermore, even assuming Garcia-Temaj did not waive review of her CAT
claim by failing to meaningfully challenge the agency’s dispositive findings, see
Moallin v. Barr, 980 F.3d 1207, 1209, 1211 (8th Cir. 2020); Chay-Velasquez, 367
F.3d at 756, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the denial of the claim,
especially considering that it was based on the same grounds as her claims for asylum
and withholding of removal, see Calvo-Tino v. Garland, 107 F.4th 861, 867 (8th Cir.
2024); Martin v. Barr, 916 F.3d 1141, 1145 (8th Cir. 2019).
Accordingly, we deny the petition for review, and we deny as moot Garcia-
Temaj’s motion to supplement the record. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.
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