(The Center Square) − The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a Salvadoran woman’s petition for asylum and withholding of removal, ruling that she failed to show she had been persecuted or faced a well-founded fear of future persecution if returned to her home country.
Ana Jackeline Marquez-Guzman, a native of El Salvador, appealed a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals that upheld an immigration judge’s denial of her asylum claim.
She argued that threats and violence by criminals toward her family — along with fears of extortion — should qualify as persecution.
The New Orleans-based court acknowledged that Marquez-Guzman’s aunt and uncle were beaten and received threatening letters demanding extortion payments, some of which referenced threats to Marquez-Guzman’s life. However, the panel found the evidence insufficient to meet the legal threshold for persecution.
Quoting prior rulings, the court said that her experience did not reflect “the kind of pattern of sustained pursuit that persecution requires,” noting that economic extortion is not considered persecution under U.S. asylum law.
The court cited precedents involving similar claims, where threats and isolated acts of violence were not enough to establish eligibility.
Although Marquez-Guzman claimed to suffer mental harm from the threats, the court declined to consider that argument because it had not been previously raised during the immigration proceedings.
In rejecting her fear of future persecution, the court emphasized that Marquez-Guzman had not rebutted the BIA’s finding that her alleged persecutors lacked both the intent and capacity to target her.
The judges also noted that her relatives had relocated within El Salvador without facing further harm, undermining her claims of a pervasive threat.
Ultimately, the court ruled that the record did not support a finding that her fears were reasonable or individualized, stating that fear of general violence is not enough to meet the legal standard for asylum or withholding of removal.
