Izquierdo-herrera v. Holder

MEMORANDUM **

Fernando Martin Izquierdo-Herrera, native and citizen of Peru, petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial *711 evidence, Ochoa v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir. 2005), and deny the petition for review.

Izquierdo-Herrera does not raise any arguments in his opening brief regarding the BIA’s dispositive determination that his asylum claim was time-barred. See Martinez-Serrano v. INS, 94 F.3d 1256, 1259-60 (9th Cir. 1996) (issues not supported by argument are deemed waived). Accordingly, his asylum claim fails.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that Izquierdo-Herrera’s altercations with drug dealers and the anonymous threats he received did not establish persecution on account of a protected ground. See Ochoa, 406 F.3d at 1171-72 (business owner in Columbia who rejected narco-trafficker demands did not establish persecution on account of imputed political opinion or membership in a particular social group); see also Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir. 2009) (“[t]he Real ID Act requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”). Accordingly, we deny the petition as to Izquierdo-Herrera’s withholding of removal claim.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.