Nuria Orellana-Martinez v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Israel Cardona, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law, Cerezo v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 1163, 1166 (9th Cir.2008), except to the extent that deference is owed to the BIA’s determination of the governing statutes and regulations, Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir.2004). We review for substantial evidence factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2006). We deny the petition for review.

We reject Cardona’s claim that he is eligible for asylum and withholding of removal based on his anti-gang political opinion or membership in a particular social group. See Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563 F.3d 855, 860-62 (9th Cir.2009) (concluding young Salvadoran men who are recruited by gangs and refuse to join is not a social group, and refusal to join gangs is not a political opinion); Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734,…