Tabaku

MEMORANDUM *

Blerim Tabaku, a Macedonian native of Albanian ethnicity, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) summary affirmance of an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum. We deny the petition for review.

The government’s contention that we lack jurisdiction to consider Tabaku’s argument because he failed to exhaust it is without merit. The BIA adopted the conclusions of the IJ, including the IJ’s resolution of the specific argument Tabaku makes to this court. Further, Tabaku did argue to the BIA that he had a well-founded fear of persecution “based on his family’s experiences and the current conditions in Macedonia for ethnic Albanians.” We therefore consider the argument sufficiently exhausted for our review. See Socop-Gonzalez v. INS, 272 F.3d 1176, 1186 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc); see also Ladha v. INS, 215 F.3d 889, 903 (9th Cir.2000) (BIA “had a fall opportunity to resolve [the] controversy or correct its own errors before judicial intervention” (quotation marks and citation omitted)).

We conclude, however, that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision on the issue Tabaku brings to this court. Tabaku has not…