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NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 30 2009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
CESAR ANTONIO FAJARDO PENEA, No. 07-71888
Petitioner, Agency No. A074-818-277
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.
Cesar Antonio Fajardo Penea, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from
an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum and
*
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).
RA/Research 07-71888
withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review
for substantial evidence, Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1015 (9th Cir. 2003),
and we deny the petition for review.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s conclusion that the three
encounters Penea had with the guerillas in Guatemala did not amount to past
persecution. See Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir. 2000) (threats standing
alone only constitute past persecution when they are so menacing as to cause actual
suffering or harm). Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s conclusion
that Penea’s failed to establish that his fear upon returning to Guatemala is
objectively reasonable. See Nagoulko, 333 F.3d at 1018.
Because Penea has not met the standard for asylum, he necessarily cannot
meet the more stringent standard for withholding of removal. See Zehatye v.
Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 2006).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
RA/Research 2 07-71888