Lezama-Garcia

MEMORANDUM

Carlos Antonio Lezama-Garcia (“Leza-ma”), a native and citizen of Nicaragua, petitions (among other grounds) for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) upholding a decision of an immigration judge (“IJ”) 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 (a), and we deny the petition as to those grounds.

Review of the BIA’s decision to deny applications for asylum or withholding of deportation is for substantial evidence. The reviewing court upholds the BIA’s decision if it is “supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4)). “To reverse the BIA finding [the court] must find that the evidence not only supports that conclusion, but compels it[.]” Id. at 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 .

The IJ denied Lezama’s asylum application, specifically finding him not credible. He relied on major inconsistencies between Lezama’s testimony and his current and prior asylum applications. The BIA…