Pedro Pascual v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Hernan Lopez-Cabrera, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2006). We deny the petition for review.

Lopez-Cabrera contends gang members harmed and threatened him in El Salvador on account of his religion. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s finding that Lopez-Cabrera failed to establish he suffered past persecution or faces a dear-probability of future persecution on account of a protected ground. See Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir.2009) (the REAL ID Act “requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”); Gormley v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir.2004) (random criminal acts do not establish persecution). Thus, in the absence of a nexus to a protected ground, Lopez-Cabrera’s withholding of…