Dometita

MEMORANDUM

Alex Abesamis Dometita, and his wife, Maria Margarita Dometita, natives and citizens of the Philippines, petition pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing their appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying their application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence, INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992), and we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that petitioners failed to establish the threats Dometita received from the Abusayaff group were on account of a protected ground. See Bolshakov v. INS, 133 F.3d 1279, 1280-81 (9th Cir.1998) (denying petition for review because petitioners did not establish that extortion was on account of an enumerated ground); see also Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740-41 (9th Cir.2009) (a protected ground has to be “one central reason” for persecution). Accordingly, because petitioners failed to demonstrate that they were persecuted or fear future persecution on account of a protected ground, their asylum and…