Carlos Vivar Palacios v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Carlos Miguel Vivar Palacios, a citizen and native of Guatemala, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that affirmed the denial by the Immigration Judge (IJ) of Petitioner’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under Article 8 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 .

This Court’ reviews factual findings for “substantial evidence.” Jiang v. Holder, 754 F.3d 733, 738 (9th Cir.2014). Under this standard, “ ‘administrative findings of fact are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.’ ” Id. (quoting Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156 (9th Cir.2003)). The BIA’s finding that Petitioner failed to establish any likelihood of persecution or torture in Guatemala, and therefore is ineligible for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT, is supported by substantial evidence. Petitioner testified that .on ten to fifteen occasions from 1974 to 1976, the Guatemalan military threatened to “disappear” him, and that, in three incidents in 1989, the military ransacked his…