Candida Rivera De Almanza v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Candida Rosa Rivera de Almanza, a native and citizen of Nicaragua, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision finding her inadmissible for engaging in alien smuggling and denying her applications for asylum and related relief. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo the agency’s determination of purely legal questions, and review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings. Ali v. Holder, 687 F.3d 1025, 1028-29 (9th Cir.2011). We deny the petition for review.

Contrary to Rivera de Almanza’s contention, the agency correctly found her inadmissible for engaging in alien smuggling where the uncontested facts showed that she undertook affirmative acts in aid of a smuggling attempt. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(6)(E)(i); Altamirano v. Gonzales, 427 F.3d 586, 592 (9th Cir.2005) (smuggling statute “requires an affirmative act of help, assistance, or encouragement”).

Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that Rivera de Almanza failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution in Nicaragua on account of an imputed political opinion. She…