Veronica Chavez-Benavides v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Jesus Jacqueline Melgar Rodriguez, 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 decision denying her application 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 Melgar Rodriguez failed to establish that she would be persecuted by gangs on the basis of either her actual or imputed political opinion. See Santos-Lemus, 542 F.3d at 747 (opposition to gang activity does not constitute a political opinion); Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563 F.3d 855, 862 (9th Cir.2009).

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