FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 01 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
OSCAR AREVALO-CASTILLO and No. 08-75162
CARLOS ARISTIDE AREVALO-
CASTILLO, Agency Nos. A099-534-962
A099-534-963
Petitioners,
v. MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted June 29, 2010 **
San Francisco, California
Before: ALARCÓN, LEAVY, and GRABER, Circuit Judges.
Oscar Arevalo-Castillo and his brother Carlos Aristide Arevalo-Castillo,
natives and citizens of El Salvador, petition for review of the Board of Immigration
Appeals’ denial of their application for asylum.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Petitioners contend they were entitled to asylum relief based on their
membership in a social group, namely their family, or young people who were
approached by gangs. Young people from Central American countries who
refused to join or cooperate with a gang do not constitute a “social group” for
asylum purposes. See Barrios v. Holder, 581 F.3d 849, 854-55 fn. 3 (9th Cir.
2009); Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563 F.3d 855, 860-62 (9th Cir. 2009); Santos-
Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 745-46 (9th Cir. 2008). In addition, although a
family may suffice as a “social group,” Sanchez-Trujillo v. INS, 801 F.2d 1571,
1576 (9th Cir. 1986), not all family links will “per se suffice to confer ‘particular
social group’ membership.” Lin v. Ashcroft, 377 F.3d 1014, 1028 (9th Cir. 2004).
In this case, petitioners failed to show that the gang members knew that their uncle
and grandmother were members of their family, or that the threats experienced by
the grandmother and uncle constituted targeted persecution. In addition, the uncle
and grandmother have remained unharmed since petitioners left El Salvador. See
Santos-Lemus, 542 F.3d at 743-44 (family members who remained unharmed is
substantial evidence that petitioners lack a well-founded fear of future persecution
based on family membership).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 08-75162