Oscar Mendoza-Marin v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Oscar Mendoza-Marin, 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, even if credible, Mendoza-Marin failed to establish past persecution. See Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir. 2000) (“Threats standing alone .., constitute past persecution in only a small category of cases, and only when the threats are so menacing as to cause significant actual suffering or harm.”) (quotation and citation omitted); Wakkary, 558 F.3d at 1060 (petitioner did not establish harm to associates was part of ‘a pattern of persecution closely tied to’ petitioner) (citation omitted). Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s determination that Mendozar-Marin failed to establish he would face a clear…