FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 17 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
PRATAP KUMAR DHUNGEL; LAXMI No. 10-70160
DHUNGEL,
Agency Nos. A089-591-541
Petitioners, A089-591-542
v.
MEMORANDUM*
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted March 10, 2014**
Before: PREGERSON, LEAVY, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges.
Pratap Kumar Dhungel and Laxmi Dhungel, natives and citizens of Nepal,
petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing
their appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying their applications for
asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture
*
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).
(“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial
evidence the agency’s factual findings and de novo questions of law. Cordoba v.
Holder, 726 F.3d 1106, 1113 (9th Cir. 2013). We deny in part and grant in part the
petition for review, and we remand for further proceedings.
Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that petitioners failed to
file their applications within a reasonable period of time after their lawful status
expired. See Husyev v. Mukasey, 528 F.3d 1172, 1181-82 (9th Cir. 2008).
Substantial evidence also supports the conclusion that petitioners did not otherwise
establish changed or extraordinary circumstances excusing their untimely
applications. See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.4(a)(4), (5). Accordingly, petitioners’ asylum
claims fail.
Substantial evidence also supports the BIA’s denial of petitioners’ CAT
claim because they have not shown it is more likely than not they will be tortured
by the government of Nepal or with its consent or acquiescence. See Silaya v.
Mukasey, 524 F.3d 1066, 1073 (9th Cir. 2008). We reject petitioners’ contentions
that the agency failed to consider record evidence or provided inadequate
reasoning for its determination to deny CAT relief. See Fernandez v. Gonzales,
439 F.3d 592, 603 (9th Cir. 2006) (petitioner did not overcome the presumption
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that the BIA reviewed the record); Najmabadi v. Holder, 597 F.3d 983, 990 (9th
Cir. 2010) (agency need not “write an exegesis on every contention”).
With regard to petitioners’ claims for withholding of removal, the record
does not compel the conclusion Maoists targeted or will target petitioners for harm
on account of an actual or imputed political opinion. See Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d
1482, 1489-91 (9th Cir. 1997); Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th
Cir. 2009) (the REAL ID Act “requires that a protected ground represent ‘one
central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”); INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502
U.S. 478, 481 n.1 (1992) (“[t]o reverse the BIA finding we must find that the
evidence not only supports that conclusion, but compels it”) (emphasis in original).
We reject petitioners’ contention that the agency disregarded record evidence. See
Fernandez, 439 F.3d 603.
In denying petitioners’ withholding of removal claims, the BIA also
determined that “land owners” is not cognizable as a particular social group. In
light of our recent decision in Cordoba, 726 F.3d 1106, 1114 (recognizing
landownership may form the basis of a particular social group), we remand
petitioners’ withholding of removal claims for further proceedings consistent with
this disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam).
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Each party shall bear its own costs for this petition for review.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; GRANTED in part;
REMANDED.
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