Angelica Mejia Rodriguez v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Angelica Mejia Rodriguez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her application for asylum and withholding of removal. Our jurisdiction is governed by 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 in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.

Mejia Rodriguez does not claim past persecution in El Salvador, and substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Mejia Rodriguez did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution, see Halim v. Holder, 590 F.3d 971, 976-77 (9th Cir. 2009) (record did not establish the requisite objective component of a well-founded fear of persecution); see also Hakeem v. INS, 273 F.3d 812, 816 (9th Cir.2001) (“[a]n applicant’s claim of persecution upon return is weakened, even undercut, when similarly-situated family members continue to live in the country without incident”). Thus, Mejia Rodriguez’s asylum claim fails.

Because Mejia Rodriguez did not meet the lower burden of proof for asylum, it…