CINCINNATI, OH – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied Carmen Odalis Cabrera-Hernandez’s petition for review after the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejected her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture.
Cabrera-Hernandez, a native of Honduras, unlawfully entered the United States in 2014 at the age of 12 after receiving threats from gang members who later kidnapped her friend and allegedly murdered her uncle. She claimed fear of being kidnapped or killed if forced to return to Honduras, citing distrust in local police and lack of family protection.
The Immigration Judge (IJ) found her proposed social groups—“Honduran women,” “Honduran females between the ages of 5 and 21,” and “Honduran females between the ages of 15 and 24”—to be too broad and not sufficiently particularized under legal standards. The BIA affirmed that ruling, and the Sixth Circuit agreed, holding that Cabrera-Hernandez’s groups were not legally cognizable because they encompassed large and diverse portions of the population and lacked the required specificity.
The court also declined to consider arguments that her claim was based on femicide rather than gang violence, as the BIA did not adopt that reasoning from the IJ. The decision reaffirms the Sixth Circuit’s precedent requiring narrow, well-defined social groups for asylum eligibility.
