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ry 6, 2009 No. 07-4446 UN ITED STA TES C OU RT OF AP P EA LS F OR THE SI XT H C IR CU IT
YAHYAAL

KEB SI , et al., Pe tit ion e rs , v. MI CHAEL

B. MUK ASEY, United States Attorney Ge ne ra l, Re sp on de nt. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON APP EA LF RO M T HE B OA RD O F IM M IG R A T IO N A P P E A LS

Be fore : NORRI S, ROGERS , and KETH L EDGE, Circuit Judges.
K E T H L E D G E , Ci r c u it Ju d g e . Y a h y a A l K e b s i p e ti ti o n s f o r r e v ie w o f the Boa rd of I mmi g r a t i o n A p p e a l s ’ d e n i a l o f h i s m o t i o n t o r e o p e n h i s a s y l u m c l a i m . A l K e b s i a r g u e s t ha t hi s motion was supported by

new e vidence that rebuts findings by the I mmigration J udg e and the Boa rd that he wa s n ot c re dib le . We dis a g re e , a nd a ff ir m. I. Yahy a Al Ke bsi, his wife Naiwa Mohammed, and their two childre n are citizens of Yemen who wer e admitted as n o n -i mmigra nt visit ors to the United States on Aug ust 7, 2000. They overstay ed their visas, howev er , and we re c harg ed as r emovable a liens under I mmigration and Nationality

Act (I NA) § 237( a)( 1)(B ) on De cembe r 12, 2001.No. 07-4446-A G

Al Ke bs i e t al

. v. Muk

asey

-2- Al Kebsi applied for a sy lum pursuant to I NA § 208(a ), alleg ing that he had be en per secute d in Yemen f

or his Quar ishi ethnicity , his polit ical views, a nd beca use he w as a suspe cted spy . An
a sy lum of fi c e r d id n ot b e lie ve him , a nd re fe rr e d th e ma tte r t o a

n im mig ra

tio n ju dg e (I J). T he I J hel d two hear ings, dur ing w hich Al Kebsi aga i n stated that Ye meni authorities had pe rsec uted him for spy ing. B ut Al Kebsi admitted that, during the period of this alleg ed per secution, he w orked f or the state -o wn e d Y e me ni na tio na l a ir lin e a nd wa s p e rm itt e d to le a ve the c ountr y tw ic e . Ci tin g the se inconsistencies, the I J found that Al Ke bsi was not cre dible and denie d his application. Al Kebsi appealed the I J ’s decision to the Board of I mmigration Appea ls, which adopted and
a f f i r m e d t h e IJ ’ s d e c i s i o n . T h e B o a r d a l s o n o t e d a d d i t i o n a l i n c o n s i s t e n c i e s i n A l K e b s i ’ s t e s t i m o n y, namely , that, acc ording to his putative birth documentation, Al Kebsi would have been 11 a nd 14 y ear s old, respec tively , at the ti mes he claimed to have joined the Yemeni Army and traveled to the United States for milit ary training

. Al Kebsi did not se ek judicial re view of the Boa rd’s de cision. Al Ke bs i th e re a ft e r f

ile d a mot ion to re op e n his a sylum c la im wi th the B oa rd , c iti ng a lle g e dly
new e vidence of civil strife in Ye men. The B oard de nied the motion. This petition followed. II. We reviewthe B oard’ s den i al o f a mot ion to reopen f or abuse of discre tion. Allabani v. Gonzales , 4 0 2 F
. 3 d 6 6 8 , 6 7 6 ( 6 t h C i r . 2 0 0 5 )

. A m o n g t h e g r o u n d s o n w h i c h t h e B o a r d m a y d e n y a motion to reopen is that the movant has not established a pr im a fa c ie c a s e f o r asy lum. S

ee I. N

. S. v. Abudu , 4 8 5 U
. S. 9 4 , 1 0 4 ( 1 9 8 8 )

. T o e s tablish a prim a fa c ie c a se fo r a sylum , A l K e bs i mu st produce evidenc e that he ha s suffer ed p ast perse cution or has a well-founde d fea

r of f utureNo. 07-4446-A G

Al Ke bs i e t al

. v. Muk

asey

-3- pe r s e c u t i o n . 8 U
. S
. C
. § 1 1 0 1 ( a ) ( 4 2 ) ( A )

. A d e t e r m i n a t i o n t h a t a n a

p p l i c a n t i s n o t c r e d ibl e wi th respe ct to the circumstances of his alleg ed per secution may prec lude him from establishing a prima facie case . Se e Y

u v . A sh c ro

ft , 364 F.3d 700, 703 ( 6th Cir. 2004). Her e, both the I J and the B oard f ound Al Kebsi’s testimony not to be cre dible. “We re view adver se cr edibility

deter minations under the substantial evidenc e test.” Shkabari v. Gonzales , 427 F.3d 324, 329 ( 6th Cir. 2005) (citation omit t ed ). Al Kebsi contends that his newly -off ere d evidenc e—most of which doc uments al l eg ed civil strife in Ye men—re buts the Boa rd’s a nd I J ’s deter minations that he was not cr edible. B ut none of this evidenc e re buts the findings of the I J and the B oa rd that A l K e bs i was no t cred ibl e wi th r e sp e c t to his ow n c ir c ums tanc e s, inc lud inghis alleg ed per secution. W e ther efor e have no basis to conclude that those findings w ere not supported by substantial evidence

. The finding s of non-cr edibility there fore stand; and thus Al Kebsi ca nnot establish a

prima facie c a se fo r a sy lum . Co ns e qu e ntl y , th e B oa rd did no t a bu se it s di scr e tio n in denying his motion. III
. For these re asons, we a ffirm the B oard’ s denial of Al Ke bsi’s motion t o reope n.