Case: 18-10183 Date Filed: 10/26/2018 Page: 1 of 9 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-10183 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A088-011-831 ELVIN ANTONIO BRIONES, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (October 26, 2018) Before BRANCH, HULL and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 18-10183 Date Filed: 10/26/2018 Page: 2 of 9 Elvin Antonio Briones, a native and citizen of Nicaragua, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his claim for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). Briones contends the IJ and the BIA erred in concluding he was not entitled to withholding of removal based on persecution on account of his political opinion. After review, we deny Briones’s petition. I. BACKGROUND On November 21, 2005, Briones entered the United States on a B2 visitor visa, with authorization to remain for one month. In September 2010, the Department of Homeland Security issued Briones a Notice to Appear (“NTA”), which charged him with being removable under INA § 237(a)(1)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(B), for remaining in the United States longer than permitted. Briones admitted the allegations in his NTA and conceded removability. On October 19, 2010, Briones filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) based on his political opinion. Briones’s application claimed that while in Nicaragua, members of the Sandinista Party targeted him with threats, harassment, and several attacks due to his participation in the Liberal Party and that he feared the Sandinistas would target him again if he returned to Nicaragua. 2 Case: 18-10183 Date Filed: 10/26/2018 Page: 3 of 9 After a hearing, the IJ denied Briones’s claims. The IJ concluded that Briones’s asylum claim was time-barred and that Briones was ineligible for withholding of removal and CAT relief. The IJ found Briones credible, but determined, based on the totality of the evidence, that Briones had not suffered past harm in Nicaragua rising to the level of persecution required for withholding of removal and that Briones had not shown that his fear of future persecution was objectively reasonable. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision, noting that Briones had abandoned his asylum and CAT claims by failing to challenge them on appeal. 1 As to withholding of removal, the BIA agreed with the IJ that Briones had not shown past persecution or an objectively reasonable fear of future harm. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Because the BIA did not expressly adopt the IJ’s decision, but did explicitly agree with the IJ’s findings that Briones had not shown past persecution or an objectively reasonable fear of future harm, we review the decisions of both the BIA and the IJ as to these issues. Ayala v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 605 F.3d 941, 948 (11th Cir. 2010). We review de novo claims of legal error, ...
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