Wenceslao Colderon-Monzon v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Wenceslao Colderon-Monzon, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions pro se for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), and of a BIA’s order denying his motion to reopen. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 742 (9th Cir.2008), and we review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen, Singh v. Gonzales, 491 F.3d 1090, 1095 (9th Cir.2007). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Colderon-Monzon failed to establish that his family membership was or would be one central reason for the harm he experienced and fears in Guatemala. See Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir.2009) (“[t]he Real ID Act requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”). In the absence of a nexus to a protected ground, his withholding of removal claim fails. See Ochoa v.…