United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 98-1314

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Calixto Gamaliel Gonzalez, *

*

Appellant, *

* Petition for Review of

v. * an Order of the Immigration

* and Naturalization Service

Immigration and Naturalization *

Service, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Appellee. *

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 Submitted: September 8, 1998

 Filed: October 26, 1998

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Before McMILLIAN, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and MORRIS SHEPPARD

ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Calixto Gamaliel Gonzalez, a citizen of El Salvador, entered the United States

without inspection. In 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered

Gonzalez to show cause why he should not be deported. Following a hearing, the

Immigration Judge (IJ) found deportability had been established and denied his requests

for asylum, withholding of deportation, and voluntary departure. The Board of

Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissed his appeal from the IJ’s order, and Gonzalez
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

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(IIRIRA), Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996), amended by Act of

Oct. 11, 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-302, 110 Stat. 3656, repealed 8 U.S.C. § 1105a and

replaced it with a new judicial review provision. See IIRIRA § 306. As the new

provision does not apply to proceedings that commenced before April 1, 1997, this

court continues to have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a. See IIRIRA § 309(c).

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now petitions for review. For reversal, he maintains that he has a well-founded fear of

persecution based upon his imputed political opinion. Reviewing the BIA&s denial of

asylum for an abuse of discretion and the factual findings underlying its refusal to grant

asylum under the substantial-evidence standard, see Feleke v. INS, 118 F.3d 594, 597-

98 (8th Cir. 1997); Hajiani-Niroumand v. INS, 26 F.3d 832, 838 (8th Cir. 1994), we

deny Gonzalez’s petition for review.1

The Attorney General has discretion to grant asylum to a “refugee.” See 8

U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1). A refugee is an alien who is unwilling to return to his or her 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.”

See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A).

After carefully reviewing the evidence, we conclude that a reasonable fact finder

could find Gonzalez’s fear of persecution was not objectively reasonable. See Feleke

v. INS, 118 F.3d at 598 (to overcome BIA&s finding that alien lacked well-founded fear,

he or she must show evidence “was so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could

fail to find the requisite fear of persecution”); Ghasemimehr v. INS, 7 F.3d 1389, 1390-

91 (8th Cir. 1993) (per curiam) (applicant must show alleged fear of future persecution

was both “subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable”). Because substantial

evidence supports the denial of asylum, we also affirm the BIA’s withholding of

deportation. See Behzadpour v. United States, 946 F.2d 1351, 1354 (8th Cir. 1991).

Accordingly, we deny Gonzalez’s petition for review.
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A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.