FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 30 2009
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T O F AP PE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JOSE MERCEDES AYALA, No. 08-71869
Petitioner, Agency No. A075-659-690
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
**
Submitted November 17, 2009
Before: ALARCÓN, TROTT, AND TASHIMA, Circuit Judges.
Jose Mercedes Ayala, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for
review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision affirming the immigration
judge's denial of his application for asylum. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. §
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without
oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
jlf/Inventory
1252. We review for substantial evidence, Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d
738, 742 (9th Cir. 2008), and we deny the petition for review.
The record does not compel reversal of the IJ's conclusion that petitioner
failed to establish that the harm he suffered at the hands of gang members in El
Salvador was on account of a protected ground. See Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, 563
F.3d 855, 858-62 (9th Cir. 2009) (concluding that resistance to gang activity is not
a particular social group for the purpose of establishing nexus to a protected
ground). Accordingly, petitioner's asylum claim fails. Id.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
jlf/Inventory 2 08-71869