CINCINNATI, OH – The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a petition from two Guatemalan brothers who sought asylum in the United States, ruling that their claims failed to show that persecution by local gangs in Guatemala was based on their indigenous heritage.
According to court records, Cristian and Kevin Macario-Tzoc entered the U.S. illegally with their mother in 2014, fleeing after gang members threatened their family and injured one of the boys. They claimed asylum on the grounds that they were part of a particular social group: “Indigenous Maya Quiche family members of victims of extortion.”
An immigration judge denied the claims in 2020, stating that the group was not legally recognizable under asylum law and that the threats were motivated by gang extortion rather than ethnicity. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld that decision in 2025, and the Sixth Circuit has now affirmed the ruling.
The court said the brothers’ proposed group was defined by the persecution itself, making it “circular” and therefore not a valid basis for asylum. It also found no evidence that their indigenous identity was a central reason for the threats they experienced, noting that the gangs appeared to target people broadly in their community.
The court also rejected a claim that the Board had ignored the brothers’ request for protection under the Convention Against Torture, noting that the claim had not been raised during their appeal.
The petition was formally denied under case number 25-3162.
