FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 22 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JUAN C. VELASQUEZ PAZ, a.k.a. Juan No. 10-71561
Paz, a.k.a. Juan Carlos Paz Velasquez,
Agency No. A094-292-560
Petitioner,
v. MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted June 15, 2011 **
Before: CANBY, O’SCANNLAIN, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.
Juan Carlos Velasquez Paz, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for
review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an
immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of
removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Our
*
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).
jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review de novo questions of law,
Cerezo v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 1163, 1166 (9th Cir. 2008), except to the extent that
deference is owed to the agency’s determination of the governing statutes and
regulations, Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir. 2004). We review
for substantial evidence factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182,
1184-85 (9th Cir. 2006). We deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for
review.
We reject Valesquez Paz’s claim that he is eligible for asylum and
withholding of removal based on his political opinion. See Barrios v. Holder, 581
F.3d 849, 852-53 (9th Cir. 2009) (holding that a refusal to join a gang does not
constitute a political opinion); Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 747
(rejecting as a political opinion “a general aversion to gangs”). We lack jurisdiction
to consider Velasquez Paz’s claim that he faces persecution based on membership
in an unspecified social group, because he failed to raise this issue to the agency.
See Abebe v. Mukasey, 554 F.3d 1203, 1208 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (per curiam)
(a petitioner will be deemed to have exhausted “only those issues he raised and
argued in his brief before the [agency]”). Accordingly, because Velasquez Paz
failed to demonstrate that he was persecuted or fears persecution on account of a
2 10-71561
protected ground, we deny the petition as to his asylum and withholding of removal
claims. See Barrios, 581 F.3d at 856.
Finally, substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of CAT relief,
because Velasquez Paz did not establish a likelihood of torture by, at the instigation
of, or with the consent or acquiescence of the Honduran government. See Wakkary
v. Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1067-68 (9th Cir. 2009).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part.
3 10-71561