Leonardo Robles Muniz v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LEONARDO ROBLES MUNIZ,
Petitioner,
v.
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
No. 22-1397
Agency No. A096-529-478
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted November 17, 2023**
Pasadena, California
Before: BYBEE, FISHER, and LEE, Circuit Judges.***
* 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).
*** The Honorable D. Michael Fisher, United States Circuit Judge for the
Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, sitting by designation.
FILED
DEC 12 2023
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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Leonardo Robles Muniz, a native and citizen of Mexico, seeks review of the
Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s
(IJ) denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention
Against Torture (CAT). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny
the petition.
Robles Muniz entered the United States in December 1996. In March 2018,
he testified before the IJ that he feared removal to Mexico because unidentified
assailants extorted two of his uncles there in or around January 2018. The IJ denied
Robles Muniz’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief.
The IJ concluded that Robles Muniz failed to establish that (1) a nexus exists
between the harm he fears and a particular social group and (2) he would be tortured
by anyone. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision and cited the same rationales.
An applicant for asylum or withholding of removal must demonstrate a nexus
between the harm he fears and a protected ground. Barajas-Romero v. Lynch, 846
F.3d 351, 358 (9th Cir. 2017). “[H]arassment by criminals motivated by theft . . .
bears no nexus to a protected ground.” Zetino v. Holder, 622 F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th
Cir. 2010); see also Maceda Templos v. Wilkinson, 987 F.3d 877, 883 (9th Cir.
2021).
Here, the agency concluded that Robles Muniz failed to provide “any
evidence” that his uncles were targeted “on account of their membership in their

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family.” Unidentified assailants extorted Robles Muniz’s uncles one time in 2018,
and Robles Muniz claims that he fears he would be harmed, too, if he lived near his
uncles. But this constitutes a fear of general criminality. The agency thus did not
err in concluding that Robles Muniz failed to establish a nexus between the harm he
fears and a protected ground. See Zetino, 622 F.3d at 1016; Rodriguez-Zuniga v.
Garland, 69 F.4th 1012, 1016 (9th Cir. 2023) (reviewing nexus decisions for
substantial evidence).
To establish entitlement to protection under CAT, an applicant “must show
that it is ‘more likely than not’ that he or she will be tortured” if removed to the
country of removal. Dhital v. Mukasey, 532 F.3d 1044, 1051 (9th Cir. 2008)
(quoting Lanza v. Ashcroft, 389 F.3d 917, 936 (9th Cir. 2004)). He must also show
that “he would be subject to a ‘particularized threat of torture,’ and that such torture
would be inflicted ‘by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of
a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.’” Id. (emphasis and
citations omitted).
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of Robles Muniz’s CAT
claim because he failed to establish that it is more likely than not that he would be
tortured in Mexico and that the Mexican government would acquiesce in such
conduct. Robles Muniz testified about a single instance in 2018 in which his uncles
were extorted. But because evidence of generalized crime in Mexico is not particular

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to Robles Muniz, nothing about this testimony or the country conditions reports
compels a finding that he faces a particularized risk of future torture. See
Tzompantzi-Salazar v. Garland, 32 F.4th 696, 707 (9th Cir. 2022) (holding that
substantial evidence supported the agency’s denial of CAT relief because petitioner
“offered no evidence to show that he faces any particularized risk of torture (or
kidnapping or extortion) higher than that faced by all Mexican citizens.”). And
Robles Muniz is only able to speculate that the assailants may target him if he lived
near his uncles, which does not compel the conclusion that he will be tortured. See
Zheng v. Holder, 644 F.3d 829, 835 (9th Cir. 2011) (rejecting torture claim where
“claims of possible torture remain speculative”).
PETITION DENIED.

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