Aida Avetisyan v. ERIC H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent*
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without**
oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
KV/Research
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
AIDA AVETISYAN,
Petitioner,
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 05-76385
Agency No. A096-190-499
MEMORANDUM *
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted November 17, 2009**
Before: ALARCÓN, TROTT, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges.
Aida Avetisyan, a native of the former Soviet Union and citizen of Armenia,
petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order summarily
affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying her application for
FILED
DEC 14 2009
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U .S. C OU R T OF APPE ALS

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KV/Research 05-76385 2
asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252.
We review for substantial evidence, Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1050
(9th Cir. 2001), and we deny the petition for review.
Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that even if Avetisyan were
credible, she failed to establish past persecution because she did not demonstrate
that the sexual harassment and assaults she experienced were on account of a
protected ground, see id. at 1051-52, and she did not meet her burden of
demonstrating a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of a protected
ground if returned to Armenia, see Fisher v. INS, 79 F.3d 955, 962-63 (9th Cir.
1996) (en banc).
Because Avetisyan failed to establish asylum eligibility, it necessarily
follows that she did not meet the more stringent standard for withholding of
removal. See id. at 965.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

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