Juan Gamas-Vicente v. Todd Blanche

── Juan Gamas-Vicente v. Todd Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 07, 2026 Category: General RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 26a0109p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ JUAN LUIS GAMAS-VICENTE, │ Petitioner, │ > No. 25-3415 │ v. │ │ TODD W. BLANCHE, Acting Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘ On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A 206 454 387. Decided and Filed: April 7, 2026 Before: GIBBONS, THAPAR, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Margaret W. Wong, MARGARET WONG & ASSOCIATES LLC, Cleveland, Ohio, for Petitioner. Andrea Gevas, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. _________________ OPINION _________________ THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Juan Luis Gamas-Vicente illegally entered the United States in 2014. He conceded that he was removable but has spent the last decade seeking asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. An immigration judge rejected his application, and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. They concluded that Gamas-Vicente didn’t establish that he is a member of a particular social group facing persecution. We agree, so we deny his petition for review.  No. 25-3415 Gamas-Vicente v. Blanche Page 2 Juan Luis Gamas-Vicente, a Guatemalan national, illegally entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor. The next day, he received a notice to appear charging him with removability. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). But he didn’t show up for his first immigration hearing. Or his second. When he failed to appear the second time, an immigration judge (IJ) ordered Gamas-Vicente removed in absentia. Gamas-Vicente then filed a motion to reopen his case. The IJ granted the motion and rescinded the removal order. Gamas-Vicente conceded removability and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Gamas-Vicente’s claims related to his alleged experiences with the Mara 18 gang in Guatemala and his Mayan ethnicity. In his asylum application, he recounts that “everything started” when Mara 18 members asked him to join their gang and he refused. AR 609. Gamas- Vicente believes that Mara 18 kills people who refuse to join and that its members raped his sister in retaliation for his refusal. Gamas-Vincente also alleges that “the Latino controlled police and government treat Mayans as second-class,” so he fears the police won’t protect him from the gang. Id. And that’s why he claims he left Guatemala and illegally entered the United States. An IJ held a hearing to evaluate Gamas-Vicente’s application. Gamas-Vicente testified that when he was 17, five Mara 18 members armed with knives, a machete, and nunchucks asked him to join their gang and commit crimes for them. When he said no, they “threw [him] to the floor” and told him to think about it. AR 138. Gamas-Vicente alleged that eight gang members approach