Jiron-De Lopez v. Blanche

── Jiron-De Lopez v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 13, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 22-9562 Document: 66 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 13, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court MARLENE MARISOL JIRON-DE LOPEZ, Petitioner, v. No. 22-9562 (Petition for Review) TODD BLANCHE, Acting United States Attorney General, * Respondent. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT ** _________________________________ Before MATHESON, BACHARACH, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Marlene Marisol Jiron-De Lopez is a native and citizen of El Salvador who entered the United States without permission. An immigration judge (IJ) found her Todd Blanche became the Acting Attorney General of the United States on April * 2, 2026, and he has been substituted as Respondent. See Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2). After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined ** unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 22-9562 Document: 66 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 2 removable and ineligible for asylum, 1 and ordered that she be returned to her home country. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissed her appeal in a single-member summary order. Jiron now petitions for review of the BIA’s decision. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a), and we grant the petition. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW “[W]here the BIA determines a petitioner is not eligible for relief [from removal], we review the decision to determine whether the record on the whole provides substantial support for that determination.” Uanreroro v. Gonzales, 443 F.3d 1197, 1204 (10th Cir. 2006). In so doing, we must treat “administrative findings of fact [as] conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B). “[W]e will not affirm on grounds raised in the IJ decision unless they are relied upon by the BIA in its affirmance.” Uanreroro, 443 F.3d at 1204. II. BACKGROUND & PROCEDURAL HISTORY Jiron was born and raised in El Salvador and lived a normal life there until the year 2015. That year, her husband discovered his brother-in-law was stealing from the company they both worked for. The brother-in-law in turn discovered that Jiron’s husband had found him out. Jiron’s husband was fired from his job and, a few months later, gunned down in broad daylight. The IJ also found Jiron ineligible for other forms of relief, but Jiron does not 1 argue those rulings were error, so we do not address them. 2  Appellate Case: 22-9562 Document: 66 Date Filed: 04/13/2026 Page: 3 The police identified four MS-13 gang members as the suspects. Jiron does no