Rene Flores Gomez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Elíseo Artero-Flores, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2006). We deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.

Artero-Flores does not challenge the agency’s dispositive determination that his asylum application was time-barred. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1259-60 (9th Cir.1996) (issues not addressed in opening brief are deemed waived). He also fails to challenge the BIA’s conclusion that he did not request relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) before the IJ or raise any arguments in favor of CAT relief. See id. Thus, we deny the petition as to asylum and CAT.

We lack jurisdiction to consider Artero-Flores’s unexhausted claim that he was mistreated on account of his whistleblow-ing. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 678 (9th Cir.2004). He does not…