Rivas Garcia v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM **

Jose Orlando Rivas Garcia, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order summarily affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdic *208 tion pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the IJ’s findings of fact, Kasnecovic v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 812, 813 (9th Cir.2005), and review de novo constitutional claims, Mar tinez-Rosas v. Gonzales, 424 F.3d 926, 930 (9th Cir.2005). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that Rivas Garcia’s testimony was inconsistent with his earlier asylum interview and application, and therefore lacked credibility. See de Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391 , 394 (9th Cir.1997) (an adverse credibility finding is supported by the record where discrepancies that go to the heart of a petitioner’s claim are present and no satisfactory explanation has been provided).

Because Rivas Garcia did not establish eligibility for asylum, he necessarily failed to satisfy the more stringent standard for withholding of removal. See Farah v.…