Mehanna

MEMORANDUM

Naji Antoine Mehanna seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA’s”) decision denying his application for asylum and his motion to terminate proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review legal questions de novo. Lagandaon v. Ashcroft, 383 F.3d 983, 987 (9th Cir.2004). We review the agency’s factual determinations for substantial evidence. Molina-Estrada v. INS, 293 F.3d 1089, 1093 (9th Cir.2002). We deny the petition for review.

Mehanna conceded removability for visa overstay and defensively applied for asylum, claiming he had a well-founded fear of persecution in Lebanon on account of his previous membership in the Lebanese Special Forces. The immigration judge (“IJ”) granted Mehanna’s application for asylum in May 1998. In 2003, the BIA found Mehanna had not demonstrated an objective, well-founded fear of persecution and entered an order of removal. Mehanna petitioned this court for review. Under then-current Ninth Circuit precedent, the BIA was not authorized to issue an order of removal and this court therefore did not reach the merits of Mehanna’s asylum claim. See Molina-Camacho v. Ashcroft, 393 F.3d 937, 941 (9th Cir.2004),…