UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

CARMEN ANDRADE,

Petitioner,

v.

No. 98-1233

U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION

SERVICE,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order

of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

(A73-733-578)

Submitted: September 15, 1998

Decided: November 13, 1998

Before MURNAGHAN and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and

HALL, Senior Circuit Judge.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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COUNSEL

Richard S. Fishbein, JOHN O'LEARY & ASSOCIATES, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney General, David J. Kline, Deputy Director, Kristen A. Giuffreda, Office of

Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

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OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Carmen Andrade is a native and citizen of El Salvador. She petitions for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals

(Board) denying her application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We affirm.

In her request for asylum and withholding of deportation, Andrade

indicated that if she returns to El Salvador she will be killed by guerrillas because of her membership in a particular social group and

because of her political opinion. In her testimony before the Immigration Judge (IJ), she explained that her first encounter with the guerrillas occurred in 1985. Apparently, on more than one occasion, the

guerrillas stopped buses, ordered everyone to disembark, and took

certain individuals in whom they were interested. In 1985, they took

Andrade's fourteen-year-old son.

In 1992, the guerrillas came to Andrade's home and took her husband. They returned him the next day, whereupon he was questioned

by the military for suspicion of guerilla involvement. Although the

military found no evidence of such involvement, they placed monitoring devices on him. He eventually left El Salvador and entered this

country.

After her husband's departure, unknown people came to Andrade's

home on two occasions. They carried a photograph of Andrade and

asked her daughter of her whereabouts, explaining that they wanted

to speak with her. Andrade does not know why these individuals

wanted to speak with her, nor does she know who they were. She suspects, however, that they were neighborhood boys who had joined the

guerrillas. After learning of this incident, Andrade's husband

requested that she leave El Salvador and enter this country.

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In 1993, after Andrade arrived in the United States, she received

a telephone call informing her that someone was looking for one of

her sons. She also learned that her father had been attacked and

beaten. In response to the foregoing activity, Andrade's daughter and

other family members left their home and moved to a different location within El Salvador. Since this move, no further threatening activity has occurred.

Although crediting Andrade's testimony, the IJ determined that she

presented insufficient evidence of a well-founded fear of persecution.

In reaching this determination, the IJ noted that Andrade did not know

why the individuals, who she believes to be guerrillas, were looking

for her, and thus she could not show that the aforementioned activity

occurred "on account of" one of the five grounds enumerated in 8

U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(42) (West 1994 & Supp. 1998). The IJ also stated

that Andrade presented no evidence suggesting that she could not

safely relocate to a different location within El Salvador, and noted

that, according to the country reports, attacks by former guerrillas are

normally localized as the guerrillas lack the organizational ability to

locate people in other parts of the country. Accordingly, the IJ denied

her application for asylum and withholding of deportation, but

granted her request for voluntary departure.

Andrade noted a timely appeal to the Board. Following the Board's

summary denial, relying on the reasoning of the IJ, Andrade filed a

timely petition for review in this court.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the Attorney General, in her discretion, to confer asylum on any refugee. See

8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) (1994). The INA defines a refugee as a person

unwilling or unable to return to his or her native 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." § 1101(a)(42); see also M.A. v. INS, 899 F.2d 304, 307

(4th Cir. 1990) (in banc). The "well-founded fear of persecution"

standard contains both a subjective and an objective component. The

objective component requires credible, specific, and direct evidence

supporting a reasonable fear that the alien faces persecution. See

Huaman-Cornelio v. Board of Immigration Appeals, 979 F.2d 995,

999 (4th Cir. 1992). The standard for withholding of deportation is

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more stringent than that for granting asylum. See INS v. CardozaFonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 431-32 (1987). To qualify for withholding of

deportation, an applicant must demonstrate a "clear probability of persecution." Id. at 430.

This court reviews the Board's decision for substantial evidence.

See Huaman-Cornelio, 979 F.2d at 999. Accordingly, the decision

may be "reversed only if the evidence presented by [the applicant]

was such that a reasonable factfinder would have to conclude that the

requisite fear of persecution existed." INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S.

478, 481 (1992). Andrade contends, however, that the IJ, and the

Board by adopting the IJ's opinion, employed an improper legal analysis, and therefore asserts that review should be de novo.

Specifically, Andrade calls attention to a portion of the IJ's opinion

stating, "[t]he test for refugee status includes both a subjective and

objective component. The subjective component is satisfied if the fear

is well-founded."(emphasis added). Andrade asserts that this is erroneous, explaining that while an applicant must demonstrate a wellfounded fear of persecution, the subjective component of this test is

satisfied if the applicant demonstrates a genuine fear. Even assuming

that the IJ truly misapprehended the relevant standard, we note that

the IJ's opinion, and thus the Board's final decision, rested not upon

the subjective component of the test,1 but upon Andrade's inability to

demonstrate that any persecution she faced, or may face upon her

return, was based upon one of the five protected categories. Accordingly, we find any error harmless.2

Next, Andrade contends that the IJ and Board viewed the evidence

"in a light detrimental" to her, rather than giving her the benefit of the

doubt, and failed to consider the evidence of familial persecution. We

find these contentions without merit. Contrary to Andrade's assertions, the IJ's opinion spoke to each of the events related by Andrade

in her testimony. More importantly, however, we again note that the

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1 In fact, the IJ even stated that Andrade "perhaps does have a subjective fear of returning to El Salvador . . . because she might be injured."

2 For the same reasons, we also find meritless Andrade's contention

that the IJ gave too much weight to "generic" country reports and failed

to include a copy of certain reports as part of the record.

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opinion did not rest a upon determination that these events were

insufficient to establish fear of persecution, bur rather upon the fact

that there was no evidence that the actions were taken "on account of"

one of the five grounds enumerated in § 1101(a)(42).

Our review reveals that this determination is accurate. Reference to

the briefs and certified administrative record discloses that Andrade

testified that she did not know why the individuals, who she believes

to be guerrillas, were seeking her. Further, although Andrade listed

membership in a social group on her application for asylum and withholding of deportation, she offered no evidence regarding this group,

nor has she presented evidence that the guerrillas might have attributed a particular political opinion to her. Thus, the IJ's and Board's

conclusion that Andrade did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution "on account of" a qualifying ground is supported by substantial evidence. From this determination, it necessarily follows that

Andrade cannot meet the higher standard imposed for those seeking

withholding of deportation. See Huaman-Cornelio , 979 F.2d at 1000.

Accordingly, we affirm the Board's order. We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid

the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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