Blanca Linares-Pena v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAY 05 2011 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT BLANCA IRMA LINARES-PENA, No. 08-75036 Petitioner, Agency No. A095-118-139 v. MEMORANDUM * ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted April 20, 2011 ** Before: RYMER, THOMAS, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges. Blanca Irma Linares-Pena, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for * 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). substantial evidence, Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563 F.3d 855, 858 (9th Cir. 2009), and we deny the petition for review. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s finding that Linares-Pena failed to show past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution by gangs in El Salvador on account of her membership in a particular social group. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 & n.1 (1992); see also Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2001) (purely personal retribution is not persecution on account of a protected ground). Accordingly, Linares-Pena’s asylum claim fails. Because Linares-Pena failed to meet the lower burden of proof for asylum, her claim for withholding of removal necessarily fails. See Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 2006). PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED. 2 08-75036