JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:
Luis Castillo-Enriquez petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") dismissing his appeal of the denial of his applications for withholding of removal and Temporary Protected Status ("TPS"). He also moves for stay of deportation. The government moves for summary denial of the petition. We deny a stay of deportation and grant the motion for summary denial of the petition.
The facts are uncontested. Castillo-Enriquez illegally entered the United States in 2002. In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") initiated removal proceedings; Castillo-Enriquez conceded removability but applied for relief from removal based on his fear of harm in his native El Salvador. He also sought review of DHS's denial of his application for TPS. He testified that his parents are lawful permanent residents of the United States who had left El Salvador when he was a child. He fears returning to El Salvador, because his grandmother received an extortionate note from anonymous individuals in 2007, demanding $6,000 and threatening harm to his family.
The immigration judge denied Castillo-Enriquez's applications and ordered him removed to El Salvador. Castillo-Enriquez appealed to the BIA, which affirmed. We review the BIA's legal determinations de novo but with "considerable deference to the BIA's interpretation of the legislative scheme it is entrusted to administer." Zhu v. Gonzales, 493 F.3d 588, 594 (5th Cir.2007) (citations omitted).
Castillo-Enriquez argues that his removal should be withheld because his "life or freedom would be threatened in [El Salvador] because of the alien's ... membership in a particular social group." 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). We agree with the BIA that being extorted by an anonymous group of individuals who perceive petitioner's family to be wealthy does not require the Attorney General to withhold removal. "We do not recognize economic extortion as a form of persecution under immigration law, nor do we recognize wealthy [Salvadorians] as a protected group." Rodriguez v. Holder, 366 Fed. Appx. 555, 557 (5th Cir.2010); see also Thapa v. Holder, 357 Fed.Appx. 591, 593 (5th Cir.2009).
Castillo-Enriquez also contends that removal should be withheld because he is eligible for TPS. The TPS program permits eligible foreign nationals to remain in the United States temporarily while their home country is designated for relief under the TPS program because there is an ongoing armed conflict within the state, it has suffered a natural disaster, or it is otherwise experiencing conditions preventing the safe return of aliens. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a. An alien is eligible for TPS only
Castillo-Enriquez maintains that he is nonetheless eligible for TPS because the regulations governing TPS allow his parents' eligibility to be imputed to him. Specifically, he points to 8 C.F.R. § 1244.2, which states that an alien may be granted TPS if he
The regulation governing TPS eligibility closely mirrors the statutory requirements. Castillo-Enriquez reasons that, because his parents are eligible for TPS, he is eligible even though he does not meet subsections (b) and (c). Though 8 C.F.R. § 1244.2(f)(2)(iv) grants an extension of the registration requirement for the children of TPS-eligible aliens, the plain language of the regulation does not — as Castillo-Enriquez contends — make children of TPS-eligible aliens themselves eligible regardless of the continual-presence and continual-residence requirements. Contrary to Castillo-Enriquez's reading of the regulation, the word "or" at the end of subsection (f)(1) does not mean that an alien is eligible for TPS so long as any of the subsection (f)(2) requirements are met, irrespective of the requirements in subsections (a) through (e) — an argument easily refuted by reading the word "and" at the end of subsection (e).
By rejecting Castillo-Enriquez's interpretation of the TPS regulations, we join the two other circuit courts of appeals that have considered the argument. See De Leon-Ochoa v. Attorney Gen. of the United States, 622 F.3d 341 (3d Cir.2010); Cervantes v. Holder, 597 F.3d 229 (4th Cir.2010). The plain terms of the statute and regulation at issue dictate that Castillo-Enriquez fails to meet the physical-presence and residence requirements and is thus ineligible to receive TPS. Accordingly,
Castillo-Enriquez's motion for stay of deportation is DENIED. The motion for summary denial of the petition for review is GRANTED. The petition for review is DENIED.