Opinion
No. 07-2264.
Submitted: May 26, 2008.
Filed: June 2, 2008.
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Sandrine Lisk, Immigration Law Office, Wichita, KS, for Petitioner.
Kevin J. Conway, Karen Yolanda Drummond, Richard M. Evans, Assistant Director, Thomas W. Hussey, Justin Robert Markel, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, Karl V. Kozad, U.S. Immigration Naturalization Service, Kansas City, MO, Lori Scialabba, U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Office of General Counsel, Falls Church, VA, for Respondent.
Before BYE, SMITH, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
[UNPUBLISHED]
Roberto Funes Tercero, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed an Immigration Judge's (IJ's) denial of withholding of removal based on Tercero's failure to show that he had suffered past persecution or that it was more likely than not he would be persecuted if returned to Guatemala.
Tercero does not challenge the denial of his request for asylum or relief under the Convention Against Torture.
Upon careful review, we conclude that the BIA's decision is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. See Ming Ming Wijono v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 868, 872 (8th Cir. 2006) (standard of review). The IJ gave specific and convincing reasons for disbelieving Tercero's testimony regarding past and likely future persecution on account of his Mayan ethnicity. See Mamana v. Gonzales, 436 F.3d 966, 968-69 (8th Cir. 2006). Further, the then current Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Guatemala indicated that the Guatemalan government had taken steps to curb discrimination and to protect the rights of the indigenous population. Cf. Pascual v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 483, 488 (6th Cir. 2007) (rejecting asylum claim based on Mayan ethnicity).
Accordingly, we deny the petition.