Application for Asylum

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Borjas Cruz v. Merrick Garland

Case No.: 22-3035

Officials: Wood, Scudder, and Lee, Circuit Judge.

Focus: Application for Asylum

Tania Lizeth Borjas Cruz and her minor son, both Honduran citizens, challenge the denial of their application for asylum and withholding of removal. Borjas Cruz sought relief on the basis that she had been, and would continue to be, persecuted by extortionists in Honduras.

An immigration judge determined that Borjas Cruz was ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal on several grounds, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”) saw no error in that decision. The appeals court sees no reason to set aside the Board’s ruling either as it applies to her or to her son. (Insofar as Borjas Cruz seeks asylum, her son’s application is derivative. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(3)(A); he is not included in her application for withholding of removal.) Substantial evidence supports one of the Board’s reasons: its determination that Borjas Cruz has not established that she was, or would be, persecuted on account of a protected status. That determination is dispositive.

Affirmed.

Decided 03/21/24

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