Antony Fransiscus v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Antony Fransiscus, a native and citizen of Indonesia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, Wakkary v. Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1056 (9th Cir.2009), we deny the petition for review.

The record does not compel the conclusion that Fransiscus demonstrated a nexus between the robberies of his family’s grocery stores in 1999 and 2000 and a protected ground. See Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir.2009) (“[t]he REAL ID Act requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”); Gormley v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir.2004) (“[r]andom, isolated criminal acts perpetrated by anonymous thieves do not establish persecution”). Fransiscus also testified that he experienced discrimination, including being unable to attend university due to high fees imposed on ethnically Chinese students; that his parents’ grocery store was looted during the 1998 riots; and…