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Barzola Becerra v. Holder

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit
Apr 23, 2009
323 F. App'x 1 (1st Cir. 2009)

Opinion

No. 08-1908.

April 23, 2009.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Ilana Etkin Greenstein, Harvey Kaplan, Jeremiah Friedman, Maureen O'Sullivan, Jeanette Kain and Kaplan, O'Sullivan Friedman, LLP on brief for petitioners.

Ana T. Zablah-Monroe, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Gregory G. Katsas, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, and David V. Bernal, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, on brief for respondent.

Before BOUDIN, Circuit Judge, FARRIS and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

Of the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation.



Petitioners Miguel Alfredo Barzola Becerra ("Barzola"), his wife and their two children are natives and citizens of Peru. They applied for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture. An immigration judge ("IJ") denied the requests, and an appeal was denied by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"). Petitioners alleged that they had been and would be subject to persecution and torture in Peru by the Shining Path — a guerrilla group designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization — which had issued threats against Barzola and his family.

To qualify for protection under the Immigration and Nationality Act, an asylum seeker must show that he cannot return to his home country "because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) (2006). As used in the statute, "persecution 'always implies some connection to government action or inaction'" Nikijuluw v. Gonzales, 427 F.3d 115, 120-21 (1st Cir. 2005) (quoting Harutyunyan v. Gonzales, 421 F.3d 64, 68 (1st Cir. 2005)), so asylum may be granted only when the applicant "suffers persecution that is the direct result of government action, government-supported action, or government's unwillingness or inability to control private conduct." Nikijuluw, 427 F.3d at 121.

Here, the IJ and BIA found that while the incidents in question were frightening, there was no evidence that the government was or is unable or unwilling to provide protection for those who, like the Barzola family, face threats from the Shining Path; nor was any government involvement in the threats alleged. There is no suggestion here that the IJ and BIA determinations were not supported by substantial evidence, see Oliva-Muralles v. Ashcroft, 328 F.3d 25, 27 (1st Cir. 2003), and accordingly the decisions below must be sustained.

The petition for review is denied.


Summaries of

Barzola Becerra v. Holder

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit
Apr 23, 2009
323 F. App'x 1 (1st Cir. 2009)
Case details for

Barzola Becerra v. Holder

Case Details

Full title:Miguel Alfredo BARZOLA BECERRA, et al., Petitioners, v. Eric H. HOLDER…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit

Date published: Apr 23, 2009

Citations

323 F. App'x 1 (1st Cir. 2009)