MEMORANDUM **

Juan Francisco Chavez-Calderon, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions pro se for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s denial of his application for asylum.

We reject Chavez-Calderon’s claim that he is eligible for asylum based on his contentions that his refusal to join gangs eon- *345 stituted a political opinion, and that he is a member of a social group consisting of persons who will be persecuted and intimidated by gangs which the government of El Salvador is unable to control. See Barrios v. Holder, 581 F.3d 849, 854-56 (9th Cir. 2009) (refusal to join a gang does not amount to political opinion); Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 745-46 (9th Cir. 2008) (rejecting as a particular social group “young men in El Salvador resisting gang violence.”)

Because Chavez-Calderon failed to demonstrate that he was persecuted on account of a protected ground, we deny the petition for review.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.