FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 09 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
VICTOR HUGO VALIENTE No. 08-72560
CALDERON,
Agency No. A075-246-048
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 26, 2012 **
Before: SCHROEDER, HAWKINS, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.
Victor Hugo Valiente Calderon, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his
appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for
*
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).
withholding of removal. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We
review for substantial evidence, Molina-Estrada v. INS, 293 F.3d 1089, 1093 (9th
Cir. 2002), and we deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.
We reject Valiente Calderon’s contention that the agency erred in finding no
past persecution because he had not been physically harmed, because this was not
the basis for the agency’s past persecution finding. Valiente Calderon’s claim that
he was persecuted on account of a particular social group – namely, his family –
fails because he failed to exhaust this contention before the BIA. See Barron v.
Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 678 (9th Cir. 2004). With respect to future fear, we reject
Valiente Calderon’s contention that the agency erred in failing to apply the
rebuttable presumption that his life or freedom would be threatened, because
Valiente Calderon did not establish past persecution. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(1).
Accordingly, Valiente Calderon’s withholding of removal claim fails.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part.
2 08-72560