FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION SEP 21 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JUAN FRANCISCO CHAVEZ- No. 09-72374
CALDERON,
Agency No. A098-986-260
Petitioner,
v. MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
**
Submitted September 13, 2010
Before: SILVERMAN, CALLAHAN, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Juan Francisco Chavez-Calderon, a native and citizen of El Salvador,
petitions pro se for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s denial of his application for asylum.
We reject Chavez-Calderon’s claim that he is eligible for asylum based on
his contentions that his refusal to join gangs constituted a political opinion, and
that he is a member of a social group consisting of persons who will be persecuted
and intimidated by gangs which the government of El Salvador is unable to
control. See Barrios v. Holder, 581 F.3d 849, 854-56 (9th Cir. 2009) (refusal to
join a gang does not amount to political opinion); Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542
F.3d 738, 745-46 (9th Cir. 2008) (rejecting as a particular social group “young men
in El Salvador resisting gang violence.”)
Because Chavez-Calderon failed to demonstrate that he was persecuted on
account of a protected ground, we deny the petition for review.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 09-72374