Avenido
Avenido v. Gonzales
Opinion
Lead Opinion
*659 MEMORANDUM *
Petitioner Renato Arguinoso Avenido appeals from the Board of Immigration Appeals decision denying him eligibility for asylum and withholding of deportation. The Board’s decision that Avenido was not a “refugee” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42) because he was not persecuted on account of political opinion was supported by substantial evidence. We affirm.
We review the last-reasoned decision below, in this case the Board’s decision. See Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir.2004). The Board’s factual determinations are reviewed for “support[ ] by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” I.N.S. v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992).
The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General have discretion to grant asylum to refugees. 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(1)(A). A “refugee” is a person who has suffered from past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution “on account of ... political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(A). An applicant for asylum bears the burden of establishing that he is refugee. 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(1)(B).