Amadou Gbane v. Eric Holder, Jr., No. 10-2183 (4th Cir. 2011)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 10-2183 AMADOU GBANE, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: March 17, 2011 Decided: April 15, 2011 Before DUNCAN, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Kofi Asamoah, ASAMOAH & ASSOCIATES, Gaithersburg, Maryland, for Petitioner. Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, David V. Bernal, Assistant Director, Yedidya Cohen, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Amadou Gbane, a native and citizen of the Ivory Coast, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ( Board ) dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge s order denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal and withholding under the Convention Against Torture ( CAT ). We deny the petition for review. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the Attorney General to confer asylum on any refugee. § 1158(a) (2006). The INA defines a refugee as 8 U.S.C. a person unwilling or unable to return to her native country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Persecution involves the 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) (2006). infliction or threat of death, torture, or injury to one s person or freedom, on account of one Qiao Hua Li v. Gonzales, 405 of the enumerated grounds. . . . F.3d 171, 177 (4th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). An alien bear[s] the burden of proving eligibility for asylum, Naizgi v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 484, 486 (4th Cir. 2006); see 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(a) (2010), and can establish refugee status based on past persecution in his native country on account of a protected ground. 2 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(1) (2010). Without regard establish a ground. Ngarurih to well-founded v. past fear persecution, of Ashcroft, persecution 371 F.3d an on 182, alien a 187 can protected (4th Cir. 2004). A trier of fact who rejects an applicant s testimony on credibility grounds must offer specific, cogent reason[s] for doing so. Figeroa v. INS, 886 F.2d 76, 78 (4th Cir. 1989). Examples of specific and cogent reasons include inconsistent statements, contradictory testimony . . . . Cir. 2006) evidence, and inherently improbable Tewabe v. Gonzales, 446 F.3d 533, 538 (4th (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). This court accords broad, though not unlimited, deference to credibility findings supported by substantial evidence. Camara v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 361, 367 (4th Cir. 2004). A determination regarding eligibility for asylum or withholding of removal is affirmed if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole. Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992). INS v. Elias Administrative findings of fact, including findings on credibility, are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to decide to the contrary. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B) (2006). Legal issues are reviewed de novo, affording appropriate deference to the BIA s interpretation of the INA and any attendant regulations. Fang Lin v. Mukasey, 517 F.3d 685, 691-92 (4th Cir. 2008). 3 Li This court will reverse the Board only if the evidence . . . presented was so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution. Elias- Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 483-84; see Rusu v. INS, 296 F.3d 316, 325 n.14 (4th Cir. 2002). an alien is not Furthermore, [t]he agency decision that eligible for asylum is conclusive unless manifestly contrary to the law and an abuse of discretion. Marynenka v. Holder, 592 F.3d 594, 600 (4th Cir. 2010) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(D) (2006)). In this case, the immigration judge made credibility findings adverse to the Petitioner, supported by substantial evidence. which we conclude were We note that the immigration judge was not obligated to accept Gbane s explanations for the numerous inconsistencies. (4th Cir. 2007). Dankam v. Gonzales, 495 F.3d 113, 122 Thus, the record does not compel a different result with regard to the denial of asylum or withholding of removal. Because the adverse credibility finding casts considerable doubt of Gbane s claim that he was a victim of past persecution and that he was a member of an opposition political party, the record does not compel a finding that it is more likely than not that Gbane will be the victim of torture. Accordingly, substantial evidence supports the denial of relief under the CAT. 4 Therefore, dispense with oral we deny argument the petition because the for review. facts and We legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. PETITION DENIED 5
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