NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 24 2016

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MARIA TERESA MERCADO No. 11-73835 MELENDEZ,

Agency No. A094-832-495

Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

Submitted August 16, 2016** Before: O’SCANNLAIN, LEAVY, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.

Maria Teresa Mercado Melendez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying her application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. §

*

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

**

The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings. Zetino v. Holder, 622 F.3d 1007, 1012 (9th Cir. 2010). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Mercado Melendez failed to establish a nexus to her proposed protected ground. See Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 740 (9th Cir. 2009) (the REAL ID Act “requires that a protected ground represent ‘one central reason’ for an asylum applicant’s persecution”). We reject Mercado Melendez’s contentions that the agency did not properly address her claim. In light of our disposition, we need not reach her remaining contentions. Thus, her withholding of removal claim fails.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

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