FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 02 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
MARIA E. RODAS, No. 09-71524
Petitioner, Agency No. A073-969-455
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted March 29, 2012 **
Before: PREGERSON, THOMAS, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.
Maria E. Rodas, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of
the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing her appeal from an
immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying her application for asylum and
withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review
*
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).
de novo questions of law, Cerezo v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 1163, 1166 (9th Cir. 2008),
except to the extent that deference is owed to the BIA’s determination of the
governing statutes and regulations, Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th
Cir. 2004). We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings.
Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 742 (9th Cir. 2008). We grant the petition
for review and remand.
Rodas claims she is eligible for asylum and withholding of removal based on
membership in a particular social group of women in Guatemala who are the
victims of domestic violence. The IJ rejected Rodas’ social group before the
Attorney General’s decision in Matter of R-A-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 629 (BIA 2008)
(lifting stay and remanding petitioner’s claims based on domestic violence for
further proceedings), and the BIA did not address Matter of R-A- in its decision. In
light of the Attorney General’s decision in Matter of R-A-, and in light of our
intervening decision in Perdomo v. Holder, 611 F.3d 662, 669 (9th Cir. 2010)
(remanding for the agency to determine “whether women in Guatemala constitute a
particular social group, and, if so, whether [petitioner] has demonstrated a fear of
persecution” on account of her membership in a protected group), we grant Rodas’
petition for review and remand for further proceedings consistent with this
disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam).
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PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED.
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