SOUTER, Associate Justice.
The evidence and testimony provided by Monsalve during the administrative proceedings show the following facts, as well as factual disputes of no consequence to the resolution of her claims. Between 2003 and 2005, Monsalve lived in Colombia with her boyfriend, who fell in with the wrong crowd and became involved in illegal activities. The exact subjects of his unlawful behavior are uncertain, however, as is the possibly paramilitary activity of his associates and their reliance on protection by corrupt police.
What is certain is that Monsalve learned of the boyfriend's criminal dealings and confronted him about them, even threatening to call the authorities. This exchange occurred in their house, where both Monsalve's father and cousin were asleep elsewhere at the time. The boyfriend drew a gun, and on one account of the facts Monsalve was struggling for possession of it when it fired twice, hitting the boyfriend. In another version, Monsalve got the gun and ran to the room where her father was sleeping, where she shot the boyfriend as he closed in on her.
By all accounts, Monsalve, her father, and her cousin took the victim to the hospital, and he died of his wounds there. The police questioned and arrested all three, though eventually the killing was ruled to be self-defense and charges were dropped.
After Monsalve's release, the boyfriend's former associates began to harass her and her family, demanding that they hand over possessions and even threatening them with death. Monsalve went into hiding and, in 2007, illegally entered the United States.
In 2009, she was charged with removability. She conceded this but applied for asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and voluntary departure, arguing that she feared harm from the criminal associates if she were to return to Colombia. While her applications were pending, Monsalve's cousin, who was in the house the night of the shooting, was killed, allegedly by the boyfriend's gang.
The IJ denied Monsalve's asylum application as untimely, having been filed more than one year after she arrived in the United States. Her application for withholding of removal was denied on two grounds. First, the IJ discredited those portions of her testimony connecting the former associates to either a paramilitary group or a corrupt police force, because these allegations had not appeared in Monsalve's previously submitted materials. Alternatively, the IJ concluded that, even crediting the testimony, at most it demonstrated that she faced threats of a personal vendetta, which is not one of the statutorily protected grounds required for withholding of removal. The IJ also denied Monsalve's CAT claim, but granted her the option of voluntary departure on condition that she post a bond.
She appealed to the BIA, which adopted and affirmed the IJ's decision with respect to the applications for asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA noted that Monsalve did not challenge the IJ's denial of her CAT claim, and thus waived it.
The petition raises two issues. Monsalve says that, because she showed extraordinary circumstances, the BIA and the IJ erred in denying her asylum application as untimely. And as to the application for withholding of removal, she contends that it was error for the BIA and the IJ to discredit her testimony. We lack jurisdiction to entertain the first argument and we find the second beside the point.
Because Monsalve failed to file her asylum application within one year of entering the United States, she must demonstrate "either the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect [her] eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay." 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D);
We lack jurisdiction to review a determination that an untimely asylum application does not qualify for an exception to the deadline, unless that determination raises a constitutional claim or a question of law.
We do have jurisdiction to review the denial of Monsalve's application for withholding of removal, however, but her argument that the BIA and the IJ erred in discrediting her testimony is unavailing. This is so because the denial of her withholding of removal application rested on an alternative foundation, which she fails to challenge and which is well supported. Both the BIA and the IJ determined that, even if her testimony were fully credited, Monsalve failed to show that the threats she faced in Colombia were tied to one of the grounds efficacious under the statute: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Substantial evidence supports those determinations that any threats against Monsalve are not based on one of the protected grounds.
The petition for review is DENIED in part and DISMISSED in part.