NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 4 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT LUCIA ESPINDOLA RIVERA; et al., No. 19-73104 Petitioners, Agency Nos. A202-155-028 A202-155-030 v. A202-155-031 A202-155-032 WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, Respondent. MEMORANDUM* On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted November 18, 2020** Seattle, Washington Before: GOULD and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges, and CHEN,*** District Judge. Lucia Espindola Rivera and three of her children, natives and citizens of Mexico, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing their appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying their * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Edward M. Chen, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation. applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir. 2006). We deny the petition for review. The agency’s determination that Petitioners failed to establish they suffered harm rising to the level of persecution is supported by substantial evidence. The threats received by Petitioners were not coupled with any close confrontation or action. Petitioners lived unharmed in Mexico for two years after Espindola Rivera’s sons went missing until Petitioners came to the United States. See Duran- Rodriguez v. Barr, 918 F.3d 1025, 1028 (9th Cir. 2019) (finding death threats from hitmen who took no action against petitioner or his family did not compel a finding of past persecution); Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir. 2000) (death threats may rise to the level of persecution where they are “so menacing as to cause significant actual suffering or harm” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s determination that Petitioners failed to establish an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution. In addition to the fact that Petitioners were not harmed, Petitioner Espindola Rivera’s husband and two sons continue to live “in the alleged danger zone” in Mexico without experiencing harm tied to their inquiries to law enforcement. See 2 19-73104 Santos-Lemus v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 738, 743-44 (9th Cir. 2008) (crediting family member’s continued safety as substantial evidence against fear of persecution), abrogated on other grounds by Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081, 1093 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc); see also INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 n.1 (1992) (“To reverse the BIA finding we must find that the evidence not only supports that conclusion, but compels it . . . .”); Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1018 (9th Cir. 2003) (possibility of future persecution “too speculative”). Thus, Petitioners’ asylum claim fails. See Halim v. ...
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