United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 14-1399
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Jose Abelino Mendoza-Mejia
lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner
v.
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of United States
lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent
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Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
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Submitted: October 7, 2014
Filed: October 10, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before COLLOTON, BOWMAN, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
El Salvadoran citizen Jose Abelino Mendoza-Mejia petitions for review of an
order of the Board of Immigration Appeals upholding an immigration judge’s denial
of withholding of removal. Because we are bound by opinions of earlier panels, see
Gaitan v. Holder, 671 F.3d 678, 681 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 133 S. Ct. 526 (2012),
we are foreclosed from reconsidering this Court’s determination that the group
Mendoza-Mejia proposed is not cognizable as a particular social group for purposes
of withholding of removal, see De Castro-Gutierrez v. Holder, 713 F.3d 375, 380 (8th
Cir. 2013) (explaining that to qualify for withholding of removal, an alien must show
a clear probability that his life or freedom will be threatened in the country to which
he is being removed because of, among other things, his membership in a particular
social group). The petition for review is denied.
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