Ventura v. Holder (unpub)
Nexus, PSG; CAT
The BIA properly denied Ventura’s asylum and withholding of removal claims because Ventura failed to establish a nexus between his fear of persecution and one of the protected grounds The only incident of past persecution is Ventura’s encounter with his neighbor, but Ventura’s testimony indicates that these threats arose out of a personal conflict between Ventura’s father and neighbor, not on account of Ventura’s political opinions or organizational membership. Further, Ventura’s fear of being kidnaped is not a sufficient basis for asylum or withholding of removal because asylum is not available to victims of indiscriminate violence, unless they are singled out on account of a protected ground. Ventura produced no evidence that he would actually be targeted for kidnaping, and even if he had, immigrants returning to their home country after living in the United States do not comprise a cognizable social group. Ventura also offered no evidence to show that his neighbor would persist in or act on the threats that he made more than twenty years ago. Ventura’s speculation that he might be kidnaped does not establish a likelihood of torture.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2011/11/23/09-70141.pdf
newimmigrationcases
