NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 28 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
RAUL LINARES-ZEPEDA, No. 16-72200
Petitioner, Agency No. A200-822-651
v.
MEMORANDUM*
WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted August 7, 2019**
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, HAWKINS, and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges.
Raul Linares-Zepeda, a native and citizen of El Salvador, 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 withholding of
removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Our 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 BIA’s interpretation of the governing
statutes and regulations, Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir. 2004).
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 dismiss in
part the petition for review.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that Linares-
Zepeda did not suffer past persecution. See Lim v. I.N.S., 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th
Cir. 2000). The BIA did not err in finding that Linares-Zepeda’s proposed social
group of “Salvadoran males returning to El Salvador who have been threatened by
gang[s] who lack police protection” is not a cognizable social group. See Reyes v.
Lynch, 842 F.3d 1125, 1131 (9th Cir. 2016) (in order to demonstrate membership
in a particular group, “[t]he applicant must ‘establish that the group is (1)
composed of members who share a common immutable characteristic, (2) defined
with particularity, and (3) socially distinct within the society in question’” (quoting
Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 227, 237 (BIA 2014))). To the extent
Linares-Zepeda asserts that he will be persecuted on account of additional
protected grounds, his claims were not presented to the BIA and we lack
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jurisdiction to review them. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 677–78 (9th
Cir. 2004) (court lacks jurisdiction to review claims not presented to the agency).
Moreover, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Linares-
Zepeda otherwise failed to establish that he would be persecuted because of a
protected ground. See Zetino v. Holder, 622 F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th Cir. 2010) (an
applicant’s “desire to be free from harassment by criminals motivated by theft or
random violence by gang members bears no nexus to a protected ground”). Our
conclusion is not affected by the differing nexus standards applicable to asylum
and withholding of removal claims. Cf. Barajas-Romero v. Lynch, 846 F.3d 351,
360 (9th Cir. 2017) (discussing Zetino v. Holder having drawn no distinction
between the standards where there was no nexus at all to a protected
ground). Thus, Linares-Zepeda’s withholding of removal claim fails.
Although Linares-Zepeda claims the agency erred in denying his CAT
claim, he failed to advance this contention before the BIA. Accordingly, we lack
jurisdiction to review Linares- Zepeda’s contentions regarding his CAT claim. See
Barron, 358 F.3d at 677–78.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part.
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