Rudy Pineda Aguilar v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Rudy Waldemar Pineda Aguilar, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 742 (9th Cir.2008), and we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Pineda Aguilar failed to establish past persecution because his mistreatment, including being identified through photographs during a demonstration and a subsequent assault on his family, do not rise to the level of persecution. See Hoxha v. Ashcroft, 319 F.3d 1179, 1182 (9th Cir.2003) (unfulfilled threats and one incident of physical violence did not compel a finding of past persecution); Prasad v. INS, 47 F.3d 336, 339-40 (9th Cir.1995) (abuse of Indo-Fijian during brief detention did not compel finding of past persecution). Without past persecution, Pineda Aguilar’s humanitarian asylum claim necessarily…