FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 22 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LUIS PEDRO GARCIA-VICENTE, aka No. 09-70189
Jaime Sergio Hernandez-Gomez,
Agency No. A098-896-462
Petitioner,
v. MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted February 16, 2010 **
San Francisco, California
Before: FERNANDEZ, GOULD, and M. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Luis Pedro Garcia-Vicente, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions pro
se for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his
*
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).
jlf/Inventory
appeal from the immigration judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, and
withholding of removal.
We reject Garcia-Vicente’s claim that he is eligible for asylum and
withholding of removal based on his membership in a particular social group,
namely Guatemalan males who refuse to join gangs, or based on his anti-gang
political opinion. See Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 745-46 (9th Cir.
2008) (rejecting as a particular social group “young men in El Salvador resisting
gang violence”); Barrios v. Holder, 581 F.3d 849, 854-56 (9th Cir. 2009) (refusal
to join a gang does not amount to political opinion.)
Accordingly, because Garcia-Vicente failed to demonstrate that he was
persecuted on account of a protected ground, we deny the petition for review.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
jlf/Inventory 2 09-70189