Karapetyan

MEMORANDUM **

Narine Rafik Karapetyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order summarily affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying her application for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review the agency’s factual findings for substantial evidence, INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We review de novo claims of constitutional violations in immigration proceedings, Ram v. INS, 243 F.3d 510, 516 (9th Cir.2001). We deny the petition for review.

Karapetyan’s equal protection challenge to the one year time limit on the filing of asylum applications lacks merit. See Hernandez-Mezquita v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 1161, 1163-65 (9th Cir.2002) (rejecting an equal protection challenge to statutory time limitation where such limitation served rational evidentiary purpose). Accordingly, Karapetyan’s asylum claim fails.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s conclusion that Karapetyan did not suffer past persecution on account of a protected ground, because Karapetyan…