FILED

NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 05 2012

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT LORENZO VICENTE PELAYES, No. 09-71510

Petitioner, Agency No. A098-266-127 v.

MEMORANDUM * ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

Submitted February 21, 2012 ** Before: FERNANDEZ, McKEOWN, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.

Lorenzo Vicente Pelayes, a native and citizen of Argentina, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence

*

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). the agency’s factual findings, Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1050 (9th Cir. 2001). and we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the agency’s finding that Pelayes did not demonstrate past persecution or a clear probability of future persecution on account of his membership in a particular social group, political opinion, or other protected ground. See id. at 1051-52; see also Parussimova, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (“[t]he Real ID Act requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”). Accordingly, Pelayes’ withholding of removal claim fails.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

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