Kostyantyn Bulanov v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Kostyantyn Oleksandrovych Bulanov petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (BIA) decision dismissing his appeal of an immigration judge’s (IJ) decision denying his claims for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We deny the petition.

“Where, as here, the BIA conducts its own review of the evidence and law, ‘our review is limited to the BIA’s decision, except to the extent that the IJ’s opinion is expressly adopted.’ ” Antonyan v. Holder, 642 F.3d 1250, 1254 (9th Cir.2011) (quoting Hosseini v. Gonzales, 471 F.3d 953, 957 (9th Cir.2006)). “We will ‘reverse the BIA’s decision that an applicant is ineligible for asylum only if a reasonable fact-finder would have to conclude that the requisite fear of persecution existed.’ ” Nagoulko v. I.N.S., 333 F.3d 1012, 1015 (9th Cir.2003) (quoting Chand v. INS, 222 F.3d 1066, 1073 (9th Cir.2000)).

1.Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Bulanov failed to establish past persecution. His experiences, and those of his family and his churches, individually or collectively, do not compel the conclusion that Bulanov suffered past persecution. See id.…