Mendoza

MEMORANDUM **

This case involves a Peruvian national who has applied for political asylum on the ground that his prior employment with a Peruvian police antiterrorist unit places him at risk of persecution by members of the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru (“MRTA”) guerrilla groups, should he be deported back to Peru. Because we find the petitioner to be statutorily ineligible for asylum based on his admitted participation in the torture of Peruvian detainees, we affirm the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) and deny the petition.

I.

The petitioner, Carlos Mendoza, is a 33 year-old native and citizen of Peru. On his asylum application and at his hearing before the Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Mendoza testified that he had been employed from 1988-90 as chief of a special anti-terrorist unit of the Peruvian police force. He began receiving telephone death threats from the Shining Path and MRTA. In 1990, members of these groups came to his home and left bombs and painted death threats in blood on his door. Shortly thereafter, as a result of these threats, Mendoza moved away from his family and began living at the police station.

Mendoza further testified that as a…