FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 21 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JORGE ORLANDO IRAHETA-OSORIO, No. 09-74015
Petitioner, Agency No. A099-473-225
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted July 12, 2011 **
Before: SCHROEDER, ALARCÓN, and LEAVY, Circuit Judges.
Jorge Orlando Iraheta-Osorio, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his
appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum
and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We
*
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).
review for substantial evidence, Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th
Cir. 2006), and we deny the petition for review.
Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that, even if credible,
Iraheta-Osorio’s experiences in El Salvador did not rise to the level of persecution.
See Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936-37 (9th Cir. 2000). Substantial evidence also
supports the BIA’s finding that Iraheta-Osorio failed to establish past persecution
or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of a protected ground,
because he did not demonstrate that the gang members who sought to extort money
from him and his family were motivated by anything other than an economic
interest. See 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”); Gormley v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th
Cir. 2004) (fears stemming from isolated criminal acts do not provide a basis for
relief). Accordingly, Iraheta-Osorio’s asylum claim fails.
Because Iraheta-Osorio did not meet the lower burden of proof for asylum,
his claim for withholding of removal necessarily fails. See Zehatye, 453 F.3d at
1190.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 09-74015