Jesus Melgar Rodriguez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Veronica Maricela Chavez-Benavides, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review 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.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Chavez-Benavides failed to demonstrate that she would be persecuted on the basis of a protected ground as a person returning from the United States who would be perceived to have money. See Li v. INS, 92 F.3d 985, 987 (9th Cir.1996) (individuals with “low economic status” are not a particular social group).

We recently held that the BIA could not reject “all women in Guatemala” as a…