Hamood

MEMORANDUM

Hamood Youssef Hamood, a Druze citizen of Lebanon, petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision adopting and affirming an Immigration Judge’s decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). We deny the petition. Hamood’s grant of withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture has not been challenged and is not affected by our decision.

To be eligible for asylum or withholding of removal under the INA, Hamood must show that he has faced or is likely to face persecution motivated at least in part by race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 (a)(42)(A), 1158(b)(1)(B), 1231(b)(3)(A); see Borja v. INS, 175 F.3d 732, 736 (9th Cir.1999). In a forced conscription situation such as this one, we agree with the Immigration Judge that INS v. Elias-Zacarias controls: Hamood must produce some direct or circumstantial evidence that Hezbollah has persecuted him on account of one of the protected grounds, rather than merely “because of his refusal to fight with them.” 502 U.S. 478, 483 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117…