NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 12 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
DALIA MORALES-VELASQUEZ, No. 12-71076
Petitioner, Agency No. A200-904-588
v.
MEMORANDUM *
JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted May 8, 2017**
Before: REINHARDT, LEAVY, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.
Dalia Morales-Velasquez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions pro se
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing her appeal from
an immigration judge’s decision denying her application for withholding of
removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence the
agency’s factual findings and review de novo questions of law. Wakkary v.
Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1056 (9th Cir. 2009). We grant the petition for review and
remand.
In denying Morales-Velasquez’s withholding of removal claim the agency
found she failed to establish Guatemalan authorities would have been unwilling or
unable to control her persecutors because she did not report the abuse and failed to
establish that doing so would have been futile or would have subjected her to
further abuse. Further in reaching its conclusion as to whether the Guatemalan
government was unwilling or unable to control Morales-Velasquez’s persecutors,
the agency did not have the benefit of our decision in Bringas-Rodriguez v.
Sessions, 850 F.3d 1051 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc).
In denying Morales-Velasquez’s claims, the agency also relied on a
relocation finding. Substantial evidence does not support the agency’s relocation
determination, where Morales-Velasquez testified her abuser followed her from the
United States to Guatemala, beat her, repeatedly raped her, and threatened to kill
her for leaving without his permission. See Mashiri v. Ashcroft, 383 F.3d 1112,
1123 (9th Cir. 2004) (agency finding that relocation would be safe and reasonable
not supported in light of substantial evidence of threats of violence).
Thus, we grant the petition for review and remand Morales-Velasquez’s
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withholding of removal and CAT claims for further analysis consistent with this
disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam).
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED.
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