FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 14 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BERTHA ALICIA DAVALOS- No. 08-72184
ALEJANDRE; MAYRA YANNETH
DAVALOS-ALEJANDRE; EVA Agency Nos. A079-162-453
ALEJANDRA-BARAJAS, a.k.a. Eva A079-162-454
Alejandre-Barajas, A079-162-459
Petitioners,
MEMORANDUM *
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted April 5, 2011 **
Before: B. FLETCHER, CLIFTON, and BEA, Circuit Judges.
Bertha Alicia Davalos-Alejandre, her sister Mayra Yanneth Davalos-
Alejandre, and her mother Eva Alejandra-Barajas, natives and citizens of Mexico,
*
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).
petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing
their appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying their 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 de
novo questions of law and review for substantial evidence factual findings.
Wakkary v. Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1056 (9th Cir. 2009). We deny the petition for
review.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that petitioners
failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on
account of membership in a particular social group, political opinion, or any other
protected ground. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 & n.1 (1992);
Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir. 2009) (“[t]he Real ID Act
requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum
applicant’s persecution”). In the absence of past persecution, petitioners cannot
qualify for humanitarian asylum. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(1)(iii)(A). Further,
the record does not compel the conclusion that petitioners established a pattern or
practice of persecution against women asserting sexual assault claims in Mexico.
See Wakkary, 558 F.3d at 1060-62. Accordingly, petitioners’ asylum claims fail.
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Because petitioners failed to meet the lower standard of proof for asylum,
their claims for withholding of removal necessarily fail. See Zehatye v. Gonzales,
453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 2006).
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of CAT relief because
petitioners failed to establish it is more likely than not they would be tortured if
removed to Mexico. See Wakkary, 558 F.3d at 1067-68.
Finally, petitioners have not shown a due process violation. See Lata v. INS,
204 F.3d 1241, 1246 (9th Cir. 2000) (requiring both error and “substantial
prejudice” to prevail on a due process challenge to deportation proceedings).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
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