Lopez v. Mukasey
Filing
920081110
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-2190
LUIS JAVIER LOPEZ; CLAUDIA PATRICIA ORTEGA-AGUIRRE; DAVID LOPEZ; SABASTIAN LOPEZ, Petitioners, v. MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, Attorney General, Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Submitted:
October 1, 2008
Decided:
November 10, 2008
Before NIEMEYER, SHEDD, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Christine Lockhart Poarch, THE POARCH LAW FIRM, PC, Salem, Virginia, for Petitioners. Gregory G. Katsas, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Lindemann, Assistant Director, Jeffrey L. Menkin, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM: Luis Javier Lopez ("Lopez"), his wife Claudia Patricia Ortega-Aguirre, and his children David and Sabastian Lopez, natives and citizens of Columbia, petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("Board"), dismissing the appeal from the immigration judge's order denying Lopez's applications for asylum, withholding Against from Torture removal and withholding Lopez was under the the
Convention
("CAT").
primary
applicant and his application was denied because it was filed more than one year after Lopez entered the United States and he did not establish circumstances warranting an extension of the one year period. It was also found Lopez was not eligible for asylum relief
and withholding from removal because he contributed to a terrorist organization. Furthermore, he failed to show a nexus between a
protected ground and his fear of persecution. We deny the petition for review. Insofar as Lopez challenges the finding that the asylum application was untimely, we lack jurisdiction to review this determination pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3) (2006), even in light of the passage of the REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 10913, 119 Stat. 231. See Almuhtaseb v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 743, 747-
48 (6th Cir. 2006) (collecting cases). Lopez's attempt to make his challenge a question of law is without merit.
2
Lopez
also
contends
the
immigration
judge
erred
in
denying his request for withholding of removal.
"To qualify for
withholding of removal, a petitioner must show that he faces a clear probability of persecution because of his race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." (citing Rusu v. INS, 296 F.3d 316, 324 n.13 (4th Cir. 2002) v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 430 (1984)); 8 C.F.R.
INS
§ 1251(b)(3) (2008). Based on our review of the record, we find Lopez failed to make the requisite showing that there was a nexus between a protected ground and his fear of persecution.* We
therefore uphold the denial of his request for withholding of removal. We also find there was no error with the Board's and the immigration judge's decision to deny relief under the Convention Against Torture. Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. 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. PETITION DENIED
Lopez's claim that the immigration judge erred by finding that his payments to a terrorist organization prevented him from being eligible for asylum or withholding of removal is not relevant because Lopez was not otherwise eligible for either form of relief. 3
*
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