Carlos Garcia-Gonzalez v. Eric H. Holder, Jr.

PER CURIAM. Guatemalan citizen Carlos Garcia-Gonzalez 1 seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, which affirmed an immigration judge’s denial of asylum and withholding of removal. This court concludes that the decision was supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. See Khrystotodorov v. Mukasey, 551 F.3d 775, 781 (8th Cir.2008) (standard of review); Zacarias-Velasquez v. Mukasey, 509 F.3d 429, 433-34 (8th Cir.2007) (persecution must be on account of protected ground). This court has previously rejected indistinguishable claims from Guatemalan citizens based on similar facts. See Melecio-Saquil v. Ashcroft, 337 F.3d 983, 985-87 (8th Cir.2003) (rejecting attempted military recruitment in Guatemala, standing alone, as ground for persecution for political opinion); Dominguez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 678, 680 (8th Cir.2003) (“An alien must demonstrate that the persecution he fears is based on his political opinion.”); Bartolo-Diego v. Gonzales, 490 F.3d 1024, 1027 (8th Cir.2007) (“As a matter of law, guerilla attempts to forcibly compel a person to join them, absent additional evidence that the conscription was motivated by that person’s political opinion, are insufficient to compel a finding of persecution on account of political belief.”). Because no error appears, this court denies the petition for review. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. Footnotes [1] Garcia-Gonzalez’s adult children were derivative applicants on his application for asy-ium and withholding of removal.