FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 25 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
VALENTINA ANDRANIKI No. 08-70468
SARKSYAN; et al.,
Agency Nos. A095-640-594
Petitioners, A095-640-595
A095-640-596
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, MEMORANDUM *
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted October 19, 2010 **
Before: O’SCANNLAIN, TALLMAN, and BEA, Circuit Judges.
Valentina Andraniki Sarksyan, a native of Iran and citizen of Armenia, and
her children, natives and citizens of Armenia, petition for review of the Board of
Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing their appeal from an immigration judge’s
decision denying Sarksyan’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and
*
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).
relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under
8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence, Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d
1012, 1015 (9th Cir. 2003), and deny the petition for review.
Sarksyan fears persecution from Armenian authorities based on her
husband’s activities with the Dashnaktsutyun political party. Substantial evidence
supports the agency’s conclusion that Sarksyan did not establish that she was or
would be persecuted on account of an actual or imputed political opinion. See INS
v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 n.1 (1992) (to reverse the agency’s finding
“we must find that the evidence not only supports that conclusion, but compels it”)
(emphasis in original); Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1489-90 (9th Cir. 1997).
Accordingly, Sarksyan’s asylum and withholding of removal claims fail. See
Ochoa v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1166, 1172 (9th Cir. 2005).
Petitioners’ opening brief does not raise any challenge to the agency’s denial
of CAT relief. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1259 (9th Cir. 1996)
(stating that issues not supported by argument are deemed abandoned).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 08-70468