Opinion
No. 18-1184
11-09-2018
MEYLIN YOHANA REYES NUNEZ, Petitioner, v. MATTHEW G. WHITAKER, Acting Attorney General, Respondent.
Bradley B. Banias, BARNWELL, WHALEY, PATTERSON, & HELMS, Charleston, South Carolina, for Petitioner. Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Erica B. Miles, Senior Litigation Counsel, Elizabeth K. Fitzgerald-Sambou, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
UNPUBLISHED
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Before NIEMEYER, KEENAN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Bradley B. Banias, BARNWELL, WHALEY, PATTERSON, & HELMS, Charleston, South Carolina, for Petitioner. Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Erica B. Miles, Senior Litigation Counsel, Elizabeth K. Fitzgerald-Sambou, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Meylin Yohana Reyes Nunez, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("Board") dismissing her appeal from the immigration judge's decision denying her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). We deny the petition for review.
Reyes Nunez has waived review of the denial of protection under the CAT because she does not raise the issue in the argument section of her brief. Suarez-Valenzuela v. Holder, 714 F.3d 241, 248-49 (4th Cir. 2013) (failing to raise challenge to Board's ruling or finding in opening brief waives issue). --------
We have thoroughly reviewed the record, including the transcript of the merits hearing and all supporting evidence. We conclude that the record evidence does not compel a ruling contrary to any of the administrative factual findings, see 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B) (2012), and that substantial evidence supports the Board's conclusion that Reyes Nunez failed to establish a nexus between past persecution or fear of future persecution and a protected ground or that her social group was sufficiently particular, see INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992) (stating standard of review); Oliva v. Lynch, 807 F.3d 53, 59 (4th Cir. 2015) (noting applicant bears burden of showing past or feared persecution on account of protected ground).
Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. We also deny Reyes Nunez's motion to remand. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
PETITION DENIED