CASTRO LOPEZ v. GARLAND (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Fabricio CASTRO-LOPEZ, Petitioner, v. Merrick B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent.

No. 15-71530

Decided: June 24, 2021

Before: GRABER, FRIEDLAND, and BENNETT, Circuit Judges. Kevin Holger Knutson, Esquire, Attorney, Kevin H. Knutson, Attorney at Law, Sacramento, CA, for Petitioner Sarah K. Pergolizzi, Trial Attorney, DOJ - U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division/Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, Chief Counsel ICE, Office of the Chief Counsel, Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA, for Respondent

MEMORANDUM **

Fabricio Castro-Lopez, a native and citizen of Peru, 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.

We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency's factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir. 2006). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the agency's conclusion that Castro-Lopez failed to establish that he would be persecuted on account of a protected ground.¹ See Lolong v. Gonzales, 484 F.3d 1173, 1179 (9th Cir. 2007) (en banc) (holding that “a general, undifferentiated claim” of civil strife does not render an applicant eligible for asylum). Thus, Castro-Lopez's withholding of removal claim fails.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Because substantial evidence supports the finding that Castro-Lopez and his family were victims of general strife during a civil war and faced the same risk as everyone else in the population, we do not reach his contention that the agency failed to analyze whether he belongs to a cognizable particular social group. “As a general rule courts and agencies are not required to make findings on issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results they reach.” Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 538 (9th Cir. 2004) (internal quotation marks omitted).