Apolinar Sanchez-Gonzalez v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Apolinar Sanehez-Gonzalez, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for 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, Wakkary v. Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1056 (9th Cir. 2009), and we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that Sanehez-Gonzalez failed to establish a nexus between any harm he fears in Mexico and a protected ground. See Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir. 2009) (the REAL ID Act “requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”); Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1051-52 (9th Cir. 2001) (personal retribution is not persecution on account of a protected ground). Thus, Sanchez-Gonzalez’s withholding of removal claim fails.

Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s denial of Sanchez-Gonzalez’s CAT claim because he failed to establish it is more likely than…