Riad

MEMORANDUM **

Ishak Emil Riad, his wife, Soheir Ibrahim Israel, and their three children, natives and citizens of Egypt, petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), summarily affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of their application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence, Lata v. INS, 204 F.3d 1241, 1244 (9th Cir.2000), and we deny the petition for review.

Petitioners’ contention that the BIA improperly issued a decision without opinion is foreclosed by Garcia-Martinez v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 1066, 1078-79 (9th Cir.2004).

Petitioners, who are counseled on appeal, did not challenge the IJ’s adverse credibility finding or the merits determination in their opening brief and thus, we do not reach these issues. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1260 (9th Cir.1996) (holding that issues which are not specifically and distinctly raised and argued in a party’s opening brief are waived).

We grant petitioners’ January 13, 2004 Motion to Supplement Petitioners’ Opening Brief, and deny their motion to reconsider the denial of their motion to remand to…