Douglas Flores-Gonzalez v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Douglas Flores-Gonzalez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order both dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum, and denying his claim for withholding of removal. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law and review for substantial evidence factual findings. See Ghaly v. INS, 58 F.3d 1425, 1429 (9th Cir.1995). We deny the petition for review.

We reject Flores-Gonzalez’s claim that the IJ erred by failing to address withholding of removal because any error committed by the IJ was rendered harmless by the BIA’s application of the correct legal standard. See id. at 1430 . Flores-Gonzalez’s contention that the BIA improperly concluded that the IJ had ruled on withholding of removal is belied by the record.

We lack jurisdiction to review Flores-Gonzalez’s claim that the IJ failed to address his CAT claim because he did not exhaust it before the agency. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 678 (9th Cir. 2004). Furthermore, because Flores-Gonzales did not adequately raise a CAT claim in his notice of…