Almado
Almado v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM ***
Petitioner Marko Tuazon Almado seeks judicial review of a final order of deportation issued on October 10, 2000, by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). Almado concedes deportability but argues that he is entitled to asylum.
The BIA was not compelled to find that Almado suffered past persecution. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992) (stating that the standard of review is for substantial evidence). Almado’s argument in this regard is based upon the testimony of Almado’s mother concerning several encounters with unidentified men who came to the family’s home in the Philippines shortly after former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos was deposed. Neither Almado’s mother nor the children were physically harmed, they were not threatened, and the men did not expressly threaten Almado’s father. Moreover, the encounters occurred only a handful of times over a period of several months following Corazon Aquino’s rise to power, and Almado was living in the United States at the time. These incidents do not rise to the level of persecution. See, e.g., Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir.2000).