FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 22 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BLANCA ODILIA RAMIREZ TISTA and No. 10-71566
ABELARDO AGUILAR RAMIREZ,
Agency Nos. A029-322-436
Petitioners, A075-718-007
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted February 21, 2012 **
Before: FERNANDEZ, McKEOWN, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
Blanca Odilia Ramirez Tista and her son Abelardo Aguilar Ramrirez, natives
and citizens of Guatemala, petition for review of the decision of the Board of
*
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).
Immigration Appeals dismissing their appeal from the immigration judge’s denial
of their applications for asylum and withholding of removal.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that petitioners did
not establish past persecution based on petitioners being attacked and robbed by
gang members because they failed to allege any nexus between the harm they
suffered and one of the statutorily protected grounds. See Zetino v. Holder, 622
F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th Cir. 2010) (“[a]n alien’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.”); Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1489 (9th Cir. 1997) (a
petitioner cannot establish a nexus to a protected ground by inference unless the
inference is clear). Accordingly, because petitioners failed to demonstrate past
persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of a protected
ground, we deny the petition for review as to their asylum and withholding of
removal claims. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 482-83 (1992); Zehatye
v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 2006).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 10-71566