Oscar Alberto Sanabria Alvarado v. ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
OSCAR ALBERTO SANABRIA
ALVARADO; MARTHA LUZ
MOREIRA DE SANABRIA; GERARDO
ALBERTO SANABRIA MOREIRA;
LEONARDO ALBERTO SANABRIA
MOREIRA; MOREIRA ANDREA
PAOLA SANABRIA, AKA Andrea Paola
Sanabria Moreira,
Petitioners,
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 11-70414
Agency Nos. A088-126-614
A088-126-615
A088-126-616
A088-126-617
A088-126-618
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted April 10, 2014**
Pasadena, California
Before: THOMAS, M. SMITH, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
FILED
APR 14 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* 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).

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Oscar Alberto Sanabria Alvarado (“Sanabria Alvarado”), 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”) denial of his
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention
Against Torture (“CAT”). His wife and three children are derivative beneficiaries
of his application. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny
his petition.
To be eligible for asylum, an applicant must demonstrate either that he has
suffered persecution in the country of removal or that he has a well-founded fear of
future persecution there. See Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 742 (9th
Cir. 2008). Substantial evidence in the record supports the IJ’s conclusion that the
mistreatment Sanabria Alvarado claims to have suffered in El
Salvador—consisting largely of unspecific threats—does not rise to the level of
persecution. See Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir. 2000). Nor has Sanabria
Alvarado established a well-founded fear of future persecution. The past
mistreatment was allegedly motivated by Sanabria Alvarado’s involvement in an
engineering project. That project was canceled after Sanabria Alvarado’s departure
from El Salvador, and he has presented no evidence that other project participants
have been victimized in the years since the cancellation.

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Because Sanabria Alvarado cannot meet his burden of proof for asylum, he
necessarily fails to meet the higher burden of proof for withholding of removal.
See Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156 (9th Cir. 2003).
Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s denial of relief under the CAT. See 8
C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2) (requiring an applicant for CAT relief to establish that
torture is more likely than not upon removal).
PETITION DENIED.

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