Fomboh v. Gonzales, No. 06-1275 (4th Cir. 2007)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 06-1275 NGWOSUNGA VIVIAN FOMBOH, Petitioner, versus ALBERTO R. GONZALES, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A98-321-775) Submitted: November 27, 2006 Decided: January 25, 2007 Before NIEMEYER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Kell Enow, LAW OFFICES OF ENOW AND PATCHA, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, James A. Hunolt, Senior Litigation Counsel, Kristin K. Edison, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Ngwosunga Vivian Fomboh petitions for review of an order of the Board immigration of Immigration judge s denial of Appeals her (Board) affirming applications for the asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Fomboh challenges the Board s finding that her testimony was not credible and that she otherwise failed to meet her burden of proving her eligibility for asylum. We will reverse this decision only if the evidence was so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution, Rusu v. INS, 296 F.3d 316, 325 n.14 (4th Cir. 2002) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), and uphold credibility determinations if they are supported by substantial evidence. Tewabe v. Gonzales, 446 F.3d 533, 538 (4th Cir. 2006). We have reviewed the administrative record and the Board s decision and find that substantial evidence supports the adverse credibility finding and the ruling that Fomboh failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution as necessary to establish eligibility for asylum. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(a) (2006) (stating that the burden of proof is on the alien to establish eligibility for asylum); Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483 (1992) (same). INS v. Moreover, as Fomboh cannot sustain her burden on the asylum claim, she cannot - 2 - establish her entitlement to withholding of removal. See Camara v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 361, 367 (4th Cir. 2004) ( Because the burden of proof for withholding of removal is higher than for asylum--even though the facts that must be proved are the same--an applicant who is ineligible for asylum is necessarily ineligible for withholding of removal under [8 U.S.C.] § 1231(b)(3). ). Fomboh also alleges that the Board erred in denying her protection under the Convention Against Torture. this protection, a petitioner bears the To qualify for burden of proof of demonstrating that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2) (2006). 8 Fomboh failed to make such a showing. Accordingly, we deny Fomboh s petition for review. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. PETITION DENIED - 3 -
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