Luis Roman Armenta Beltran v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LUIS ROMAN ARMENTA BELTRAN,
Petitioner,
v.
WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 16-73105
Agency No. A202-065-692
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted March 8, 2019**
Phoenix, Arizona
Before: CLIFTON, IKUTA, and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner Luis Roman Armenta Beltran, a Mexican national and citizen,
petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”)
denying him asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention
Against Torture (“CAT”). We hold that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
MAR 13 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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decision and deny the petition. See Sanjaa v. Sessions, 863 F.3d 1161, 1164 (9th
Cir. 2017) (“To reverse the BIA, we must determine that the evidence not only
supports [a contrary] conclusion, but compels it—and also compels the further
conclusion that the petitioner meets the requisite standard for obtaining relief.”
(alterations in original) (quotation marks and citations omitted)).
Beltran first attacks the BIA’s holding that he is ineligible for asylum or
withholding of removal because he committed a “serious nonpolitical crime” by
attempting to carry a backpack of marijuana across the U.S.-Mexico border in
exchange for a drug cartel’s assistance in making the crossing. See 8 U.S.C. §§
1158(b)(2)(A)(iii), 1231(b)(3)(B)(iii) (asylum and withholding not available if
there are “serious reasons to believe that the alien committed a serious nonpolitical
crime”); Go v. Holder, 640 F.3d 1047, 1052-53 (9th Cir. 2011) (drug trafficking is
presumptively a “serious nonpolitical crime” and “serious reasons to believe”
standard is “tantamount to probable cause”). He contends that he only carried the
marijuana under duress.
Even assuming that a duress defense could prevent a “serious nonpolitical
crime” determination, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that
Beltran has not established that defense here. Beltran put forward no evidence that
the cartel ever forced him to carry the marijuana or threatened him with harm if he
did not. Beltran points to his testimony that he “didn't have an option” to contend

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that he “had no choice but to carry the drugs.” But, read in context, this testimony
more plausibly supports the conclusion that Beltran had to carry the drugs only if
he wanted the cartel’s help to cross the border after his attempts to pay the cartel
for that service failed. Nothing in the record compels the conclusion that Beltran
was tacitly forced into carrying the drugs under an implied risk of physical harm.
Beltran appears not to contest the BIA’s determination that there was probable
cause that he had attempted to transport the marijuana, and in any event, his own
admissions constitute substantial evidence supporting that conclusion.
Substantial evidence also supports the BIA’s conclusion that Beltran did not
show that it was more likely than not that he would be tortured by or with the
acquiescence of government officials, as is required for CAT relief. 8 C.F.R.
§ 1208.17. Beltran urges us to infer from his family’s history with the cartel that it
might target him next but the record does not compel that inference. Beltran’s
brother appears to have been murdered in an execution-style shooting following
threats from the cartel, but it does not follow that the cartel would target Beltran.
Unlike his brother, who had worked for and apparently fallen out of favor with the
cartel, Beltran himself is not and has not been part of the cartel. Beltran’s uncle
was also killed, but the cause of his death remains unknown. Moreover, nothing in
the record indicates that the cartel has threatened Beltran or his family since his
brother’s death or committed acts of violence against them.

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The petition for review is DENIED.

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