Portillo-Escobar

MEMORANDUM

Rosa Maria Portillo-Escobar, a citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision that she abandoned her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the United States. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We deny the petition.

Whether a permanent resident abandoned her LPR status is reviewed under the substantial evidence standard. Khodagholian v. Ashcroft, 335 F.3d 1003, 1006 (9th Cir.2003) (citing Chavez-Ramirez v. INS, 792 F.2d 932, 934-35 (9th Cir.1986)). “To reverse under the substantial evidence standard, the evidence must be so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find the facts were as the alien alleged.” Khodagholian, 335 F.3d at 1006 (citing Singh v. Reno, 113 F.3d 1512, 1514 (9th Cir.1997) (citing INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992))).

“When an applicant has a colorable claim to returning resident status, as [Por-tillo-Escobar] does, the INS has the burden of proving [she] is not eligible for admission to the United States.” Singh, 113 F.3d at 1514 . That burden “is to establish by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that…