Sandra Portillo-Mendez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Sandra Margarita Portillo-Mendez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Our jurisdiction is governed by 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, Ochoa v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir.2005), and we deny the petition for review.

We reject Portillo-Mendez’s claim that she is eligible for asylum based on her membership in a particular social group. See id. at 1171 (concluding “business owners in Colombia who rejected demands by narco-traffickers to participate in illegal activity” was “too broad to qualify as a particularized social group”). Because Portillo-Mendez failed to establish a nexus to a protected ground, her…