De Ci-Fuentes v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM **

Alberto Cifuentes Garcia, along with his wife, Zoila Rosalina Fuentes de Cifuentes, 1 natives and citizens of Guatemala, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision summarily affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of their application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the denial of asylum, Malhi v. INS, 336 F.3d 989, 992 (9th Cir. 2003), and we deny the petition for review.

Garcia testified that Guatemalan guerillas threatened him and beat his wife and children in order to stop him from organizing civil defense patrols in his town.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s conclusion that petitioners did not demonstrate past persecution on account of an enumerated ground. See Cruz-Navarro v. INS, 232 F.3d 1024, 1028-29 (9th Cir.2000) (stating that persecution occurring because a person is a member of the military is not persecution on account of a statutory ground).

In addition, Garcia’s admission that he told the asylum officer that he did not fear returning to Guatemala undercuts his claimed fear of future persecution. See Montecino v. INS,…