NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

FELIPE LOPEZ SANTANA,

Petitioner,

v.

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General,

Respondent. No. 20

- 70290

Agency No. A206

- 403

- 207

MEMORANDUM *

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

Submitted July 28, 2021 * * San Francisco, California

Before: McKEOWN and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges, and HUCK, ** * District Judge.

Felipe Lopez Santana seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’

(“BIA”) dismissal of his appeal of an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his

* 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).

*** The Honorable Paul C. Huck, United States District Judge for the U.S.
District Court for Southern F lorida, sitting by designation. 

# FILED

JUL 30 2021

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS2

applications for asylum and withholding of removal. 1 We lack jurisdiction to

review the BIA’s extraordin ary

- circumstances determination , and we dismiss the

petition as to that issue

. We review the denial of withholding of removal for

substantial evidence, and “ we must uphold the agency determination unless the

evidence compels a contrary conclusion.” D uran

- Rodriguez v. Barr , 918 F.3d

1025, 1028 (9th Cir. 2019) . We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we

deny the petition as to th at issue.

Lopez Santana asserts that he has establishe d extraordinary circumstance s to

avoid the one

- year time bar for filing his asylum application

. 8 U.S.C.

§ 1158(a)(2)(D)

. He argues that the BIA did not credit the extent of the

psychological trauma that he experienced. Lopez Santana challenges factual

findings , and we lack jurisdi ction to review the B IA ’s extraordinary

- circumstances

determination to the extent it is founded on a factual dispute. See Gasparyan v.

Holder , 707 F.3d 1130, 1134 (9th Cir. 2013); 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(a)(3),

1252(a)(2)(D). We therefore dismiss for lack of ju risdiction the portion of Lopez

Santana’s petition challenging the merits of the B IA ’s extraordinary

- circumstances

determination.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Lopez Santana did

1 To the extent that Lopez Santa na seeks to challenge the IJ’s denial of relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) , he fails to address the BIA’s

determination as to waiver, so we do not address the merits of his C AT claim.3

not establish past persecution. The record supports the BIA ’s conclusion that the

offensive slurs directed at Lopez Santana by his school

- aged peers did not rise to

the level of past persecution. S ee Wakkary v. Holder , 558 F.3d 1049, 1059 (9th

Cir. 2009) (“Mere discrimination, by itself, is not the same as persecution.”

(alteration and internal quotation marks omitted))

. With respect to his rape, Lopez

Santana challenges the IJ’s finding that he had not shown that the government was

unable or unwilling to protect him

, but the BIA did not rest on tha t finding. Lopez

Santana does not challenge th e finding that his rape lacked a nexus to a protected

ground , so the BIA’s conclusion that h e did not establish past persecution rests on

substantial evidence. Se e Barajas

- Romero v. Lynch , 846 F.3d 351, 357 ( 9th Cir.

2017) ( explaining that to qualify for withholding of removal, persecution must be

“because of” a protected ground (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A)) ).

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Lopez Santana has

not shown a clear probability of future persecution. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A) ; see

Wakkary , 558 F.3d at 1060 (describing the standard)

. Lopez Santana has lived

safely in Mexico City, and t he country condition evidence does not compel the

conclusion that it is more likely than not that Lopez Santana will be subject to

persecution in Mexico

.

DISMISSED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.