FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 2 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ALVARO DIAZ, a.k.a. Alvaro Alexander No. 12-71844
Diaz,
Agency No. A087-682-753
Petitioner,
v. MEMORANDUM*
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted September 23, 2014**
Before: W. FLETCHER, RAWLINSON, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
Alvaro Diaz, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the
Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an
immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum,
*
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).
withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture
(“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial
evidence the agency’s factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-
85 (9th Cir. 2006). We deny in part and grant in part the petition for review, and
we remand.
We reject Diaz’s contentions regarding streamlining because the BIA did not
issue a streamlined decision.
Diaz has not challenged the agency’s finding that his application for asylum
is untimely. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1259-60 (9th Cir. 1996)
(issues not supported by argument are deemed waived). Thus, we deny the petition
for review as to his asylum claim.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of CAT relief because
Diaz failed to establish that it is more likely than not he will be tortured if returned
to Guatemala. See Zheng v. Holder, 644 F.3d 829, 835-36 (9th Cir. 2011).
However, in denying Diaz’s withholding of removal claim, the agency found
Diaz failed to establish past persecution or a fear of future persecution on account
of a protected ground. When the IJ and BIA issued their decisions in this case they
did not have the benefit of this court’s decisions in Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707
F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc), Cordoba v. Holder, 726 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir.
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2013), and Pirir-Boc v. Holder, 750 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2014), or the BIA’s
decisions in Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 227 (BIA 2014), and Matter of
W-G-R-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 208 (BIA 2014). Thus, we remand Diaz’s withholding of
removal claim to determine the impact, if any, of these decisions. See INS v.
Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam). In light of this remand, we do
not reach Diaz’s remaining challenges to the agency’s denial of his withholding of
removal claim at this time.
The parties shall bear their own costs for this petition for review.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; GRANTED in part;
REMANDED.
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