Arnel Gabriel ASTRERO, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent

Petitioner Amel Gabriel Astrero, a native and citizen of the Philippines, appeals an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming a decision of the Immigration Judge denying Astrero’s request for asylum, withholding of deportation, and suspension of deportation. The Board found that Astrero did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution based on either his political opinion or his membership in a particular social group and, therefore, he failed to establish his statutory eligibility for either asylum or withholding of deportation. The Board further found that, although Astrero established the requisite good moral character and seven years of continuous physical presence in the United States, he failed to show “extreme hardship” if he were returned to the Philippines and therefore, did not qualify for suspension of deportation. We affirm.

I.

This court must uphold the Board’s denial of asylum 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, 815 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4)). Similarly, the Board’s decision as to whether to…