Lopez-Juan
Lopez-Juan v. Ashcroft
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Miguel Andres Lopez-Juan, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the immigration judge’s denial of asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA’s determination that Lopez is ineligible for asylum “can be reversed only if the evidence presented by [Lopez-Juan] was such that a reasonable factfinder would have to conclude that the requisite fear of persecution existed.” INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992) (citation omitted).
As the BIA concluded, the record reflects that Lopez-Juan was never arrested, detained, or otherwise physically harmed. See Singh v. INS, 134 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir.1998) (recognizing a lack of persecution *130 where there is no significant physical violence or specific threats of serious harm). Lopez-Juan has not shown “that the evidence he presented was so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution.” Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 995, 998 (9th Cir.2003) (citations omitted). Since Lopez-Juan has failed to establish eligibility for asylum, he necessarily fails…