Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-08-01076/USCOURTS-ca4-08-01076-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Abakar Ali Mbodou
Petitioner
Michael B. Mukasey
Respondent

Document Text:

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 08-1076

ABAKAR ALI MBODOU,

Petitioner,

v.

MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, United States Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration

Appeals. 

Submitted: August 18, 2008 Decided: August 28, 2008

Before WILLIAMS, Chief Judge, and MOTZ and KING, Circuit Judges.

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Peter T. Ndikum, IMMIGRATION ASSISTANCE CENTER, Silver Spring,

Maryland, for Petitioner. Gregory G. Katsas, Acting Assistant

Attorney General, Barry J. Pettinato, Assistant Director, Carmel A.

Morgan, Trial Attorney, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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*

Because Ali Mbodou did not challenge the denial of relief

under the CAT in his brief, the claim is not preserved for review.

See Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 241 n.6 (4th Cir.

1999).

2

PER CURIAM:

Abakar Ali Mbodou, a native and citizen of Chad,

petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration

Appeals (“Board”) dismissing his appeal from the immigration

judge’s order finding him removable and denying his application for

asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention

Against Torture (“CAT”).*

 Ali Mbodou challenges the immigration

judge’s adverse credibility finding, as affirmed by the Board. For

the reasons set forth below, we deny the petition for review.

We will uphold an adverse credibility determination if it

is supported by substantial evidence, see Tewabe v. Gonzales, 446

F.3d 533, 538 (4th Cir. 2006), and reverse the Board’s decision

“only if the evidence presented . . . was so compelling that no

reasonable factfinder 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). 

Having reviewed the administrative record and the Board’s

decision, we find that substantial evidence supports the

immigration judge’s adverse credibility finding, as affirmed by the

Board, and the ruling that Ali Mbodou failed to establish past

persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution as

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3

necessary to establish eligibility for asylum. See 8 U.S.C.

§ 1158(b)(1)(B)(i), (ii) (2006) (providing that the burden of proof

is on the alien to establish eligibility for asylum); 8 C.F.R.

§ 1208.13(a) (2008) (same). Because the record does not compel a

different result, we will not disturb the Board’s denial of Ali

Mbodou’s application for asylum. Moreover, as Ali Mbodou cannot

sustain his burden on the asylum claim, he cannot establish his

entitlement to withholding of removal. 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.”).

Accordingly, we deny the 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

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