Case ID: f-appx_348/html/0317-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "IKUTA, Circuit Judge,", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Brima SEESAY, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent.
    No. 07-75035.
    United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
    Submitted Oct. 9, 2009 .
    Filed Oct. 14, 2009.
    
      Antonio R. Salazar, Esquire, Salazar Law Office, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.
    Jeffrey Ronald Meyer, Esquire, OIL, Joseph D. Hardy, Jr., Esquire, Trial, No-rah Ascoli Schwarz, Senior Litigation Counsel, DOJ — U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Ronald E. Lefevre, Office of the District Counsel, Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA, WWS-District Counsel, Esquire, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office of the District Counsel, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.
    Before: D.W. NELSON, SILVERMAN and IKUTA, Circuit Judges.
    
      
       The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2).
    
   MEMORANDUM

The government argues we have no jurisdiction to hear Seesay’s petition, because the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) found that Seesay had not carried his burden of showing his petition for asylum was timely. Courts generally do not have jurisdiction to review the denial of an untimely asylum petition, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3), but we do have jurisdiction to review a timeliness determination for questions of law as applied to undisputed facts. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D). Here, the government alleged Seesay’s entry date in its Notice to Appear, and Seesay admitted the government’s allegation at his hearing before the Immigration Judge (“IJ”). “[T]he allegations are thus considered judicial admissions rendering the arrival date undisputed.” Cinapian v. Holder, 567 F.3d 1067, 1073 (9th Cir.2009) (internal citations and quotations omitted). See also Hakopian v. Mukasey, 551 F.3d 843, 846 (9th Cir.2008) (“Allegations in a complaint are considered judicial admissions. In immigration proceedings, the Notice to a Appear serves the same function as a civil complaint.”). Therefore, Seesay’s entry date was undisputed, and he established as a matter of law that his asylum application was not time-barred. We therefore do have jurisdiction over Seesay’s petition for review, Cinapian, 567 F.3d at 1073, which we deny on the merits.

First, substantial evidence supports the Immigration Judge’s adverse credibility determination, based on See-say’s vague, inconsistent, and nonspecific testimony of events that went to the heart of his asylum claim. The IJ provided specific, cogent reasons to support his conclusion. See Don v. Gonzales, 476 F.3d 738, 741 (9th Cir.2007). Second, substantial evidence supports the IJ’s determination that any persecution Seesay might have suffered was not on account of a protected ground. Seesay’s refusal to join the rebel group is insufficient to provide this nexus. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 482, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992); Pedro-Mateo v. INS, 224 F.3d 1147, 1151 (9th Cir.2000). The evidence likewise does not compel a finding of a well-founded fear of future persecution, because Seesay failed to show it was objectively reasonable that he would be individually subjected to persecution if removed to Sierra Leone. See Lolong v. Gonzales, 484 F.3d 1173, 1178 (9th Cir.2007) (en banc). Therefore, the IJ did not err in denying Seesay’s asylum application, and Seesay necessarily fails to meet the more stringent burden of proving eligibility for withholding of removal. See Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir.2006); Pedro-Mateo, 224 F.3d at 1150.

Last, there is substantial evidence to support the IJ’s denial of Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) relief for insufficiency of evidence. The events Seesay described in his testimony do not rise to the level of torture as defined in the CAT implementing regulations. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(1). Furthermore, Seesay does not establish the likelihood of future torture committed by or with the consent or acquiescence of Sierra Leonean government officials. See Soriano v. Holder, 569 F.3d 1162, 1167 (9th Cir.2009).

PETITION DENIED.

IKUTA, Circuit Judge,

dissenting:

This court has no jurisdiction to review timeliness findings based on disputed facts. Cf. Ramadan v. Gonzales, 479 F.3d 646, 650 (9th Cir.2007). Unlike in Hakopian v. Mukasey, 551 F.3d 843, 846 (9th Cir.2008) and Cinapian v. Holder, 567 F.3d 1067, 1073 (9th Cir.2009), the alien here testified to dates contrary to that alleged in the government’s Notice to Appear. At his hearing, Seesay made a number of inconsistent statements regarding his date of arrival into the United States, casting the date into dispute. In light of this conflicting evidence, the arrival date cannot be considered judicially admitted, and the majority’s reliance on Hakopian and Cinapian is misplaced. Because this timeliness finding was based on disputed facts, we lack jurisdiction to consider this asylum claim. I would dismiss the asylum claim on this basis. I otherwise concur in the majority’s disposition of Seesay’s withholding and CAT claim. 
      
       This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.