Guerra-Gonzalez

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Francisco Guerra-Gonzalez (“Guerra-Gonzalez”) petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (“BIA”) denial of his requests for asylum and withholding of deportation.

The government contends that Guerra-Gonzalez failed to exhaust his administrative remedies because he did not challenge the issue of past persecution in his administrative appeal brief. If the BIA *729 actually considers and decides an issue, that issue can be reviewed. Sagermark v. INS, 767 F.2d 645, 648 (9th Cir.1985). Here, the BIA stated, “we agree with the Immigration Judge’s conclusion that [Guerra-Gonzalez] has not established that he was the victim of persecution while in Guatemala.” Guerra-Gonzalez’s claims of past persecution were addressed by the BIA, relieving his exhaustion requirement and allowing us to exercise jurisdiction over the issue of past persecution. We will consider the merits of the asylum issue.

An applicant may establish eligibility for asylum based on past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(A). Guerra-Gonzalez alleges that the BIA erred in finding that he did not suffer past persecution or a well-founded fear…