Ahmed v. Garland, No. 19-3480 (8th Cir. 2021)
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The Eighth Circuit denied a petition for review challenging petitioner's removability and seeking asylum. Petitioner, a Somali native who is part of a minority Islamic sect called Sufism, fled Somalia to escape the country's civil war. He came to the United States in 2000 and his entire family resides in the United States, including his nine children.
The court concluded that petitioner's conviction for possession of khat relates to a federal controlled substance under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). In this case, khat contains at least one of two substances listed on the federal drug schedules and thus petitioner is removable. In regard to asylum, the court applied de novo review and concluded that petitioner's evidence was insufficient to establish the social distinctiveness of his proposed social group: those suffering from mental health illnesses, specifically post traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, the Board did not err in concluding that the IJ's factual finding that the Somali government was helpless against al-Shabaab was clearly erroneous.
Court Description: [Stras, Author, with Colloton and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Petition for Review - Immigration. Khat contains at least two substances listed on the federal drug schedules, and petitioner's conviction under Minnesota's fifth-degree possession statute was a crime related to a federal controlled substance, and he was removable; the cognizability of a proposed social group for asylum purposes presents a question of law the Board of Immigration Appeals reviews de novo; the Board did not err in determining that petitioner had failed to carry his burden of proving entitlement to asylum and that, to the extent the IJ found he had, the finding was clearly erroneous.
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