a protected ground such as their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions. Rather, he testified that the farm was on fertile land, and thus valuable. Zetino implied that the only motivation for the murders was the land itself. He testified that the attackers “were insisting on the lands and [his] grandfather did not want to get rid of the land.” Zetino also testified that he was afraid of gang violence because he had tattoos that gang members might mistake as a sign of membership in a rival gang. An alien’s desire to be free from harassment by criminals motivated by theft or random violence by gang members bears no nexus to a protected ground. See id. §§ 1231(b)(3), 1101(a)(42); Gormley v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1172, 1177 (9th Cir. 2004) (<HOLDING>). Accordingly, the BIA properly ruled that
holding that no federal nexus is required holding that persecution by militants for purpose of recruitment does not establish a nexus to a protected ground holding that harassment by the farc for refusing to cooperate with their demands for money did not establish a nexus to a statutorily protected ground holding that imputed political opinion is a protected ground holding that random criminal acts bore no nexus to a protected ground