FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEV EN T HC IRC U IT MARCH 21, 2006 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 05- 14754 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ B I A N os . A 97- 208- 898 & A 97- 208- 899 G L A Y A L E J A N D R O A P O N T E , L U Z M A R I N A C A S T A N O , P e titio n e r s , v ersu s U .S . A T T O RN E Y G E N E R A L , R e s p o n d e n ts .

________________________ P e t i t i on f orR e vi e w of

a n O r de rof

the B o a r d o f I m m ig r a tio n A p p e a ls

_________________________ ( M ar c h 21, 2006) B efo re C A RN E S , W IL S O N an d P R Y O R , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M:2

G l ayA l ej andro A po nt e a nd hi s w i fe , L uz M ar i na C as t ano (P et i t i on er s) , pet i t i on thi s C ou rtfor r evi ew of the B oard of Im m i grat i on A pp ea l s’ s ( B IA ) order af fi rm i ng w i tho utop i ni on the Im m i grat i on Judg e’ s ( IJ ) dec i si on denyi ng them a s y l um , w i thhol di ng of

r e m ova l , a nd r e l i e f

unde rthe U ni t e d N a t i ons C onve nt i on A ga i ns tT or tur e a nd O the rC rue l , I nhum a n, orD e gr a di ng T r e a tm e ntorP uni s hm e nt (C A T ). P et i t i on er s a re nat i ve ci t i ze ns of V enez uel a w ho re m ai ned i n the U ni t ed S t at es beyond thei r autho ri ze d d at es and the IN S subsequent l y i ss ued them no t i ce s t o appe a rc ha r gi ng the m w i th r e m ovabi l i ty . T he y the n f i l e d appl i c a t i ons f

or a s y l um a nd w i thhol di ng of r e m ova l ba s e d upon the i rpol i t i c a l opi ni on a nd m em bers hi p i n a V enez uel an po l i t i ca l grou p cal l ed V enez uel a L i bre ( F re e V e ne z ue l a ) , of

w hi c h A pont e w a s a f

oundi ng m e m be r . A tthe i rr e m ova l he a r i ng, pe t i t i one r s s t a t e d tha tthe y s uf f e r e d va r i ous thr e a t s a nd pe r s e c ut i on a s a r e s ul tof the i rm e m be r s hi p i n F r e e V e ne z ue l ai nc l udi ng: ( 1) dur i ng aF r e e V e ne z ue l agr oup dem on stra t i on i n O ct ob er20 01 , a m an approached the grou p and t ol d them that the y w e r e at a r ge tf

orha rm by the B ol i va r i a n C i r c l e s , a r e por t e d ne i ghborhoodba s e d gr oup tha ts e rve s a s l i a i s on be tw e e n c om m uni t i e s a nd the gove rnm e nt , ( 2) the y w e r e appr oa c he d by tw o pe opl e w ho t ol d the m t o s t op w ha tthe y w e r e doi ng o rth e y w o u ld k ill th e m , a n d ( 3 ) w h ile A p o n te w a s e n te r in g th e C e n tr a l U n iv e r s ity of V e ne z ue l a , tw o pe opl e gotoutof a c a r , c ha s e d hi m a nd s hout e d “ do s om e thi ng t o h i m ”. A po nt e s up po rt ed hi s t es t i m on y by s t at i ng thata c o-foun der of F re e3

V e n e z u e law a s k id n ap p e d a n d b e a te n , a n d e v e n tu a lly le f t f o rth e U n ite d S ta te s . T hey a l so cl ai m thatC as t ano w as fi re d from her pri vat e- se ct or j ob as a r es ul tof a gove rnm e ntor de rt o f

i r e he r . A l though the I J f ound pe t i t i one r s ’ s t e s t i m ony t o be c r e d ib le , th e I J f

o u n d th a t th e y f

a ile d to c a rry th e irb u r d e n o f p r o o f w ith r e s p e c t to a s y l u m. T h e a s y lu m ap p lic a n t c a rr ie s th e b u r d e n o f p r o v in g a s y lu m e lig ib ility . Al N a jja rv . A s h c r o

ft , 2 5 7 F. 3 d 1 2 6 2 , 1 2 8 4 ( 1 1 th Ci r . 2 0 0 1 ) . To q u a l i f y f o ra s y l u m, the appl i c a ntm us ts how pa s tpe r s e c ut i on ora w e l l - f ounde d f e a rof pe r s e c ut i on on a c c o u n t o f

“h is o rh e rp o litic a l o p in io n ( o ro th e rs ta tu to r ily lis te d f a c to r ” ) . Id . at 1287. A n a s y l um appl i c a ntm a y nots how m e r e l y tha the ha s a pol i t i c a l opi ni on, b u t m u s t s h o w th a t h e w a s p e r s e c u te d b e c a u s e o f th a t o p in io n . IN

S v. E l i a sZac ar i as , 5 0 2 U .S . 4 7 8 , 4 8 3 , 1 1 2 S . C t. 8 1 2 , 8 1 6 , 1 1 7 L . E d .2 d 3 8 ( 1 9 9 2 ) . W e h a v e c h a r a c te r iz e d th e “p e r s e c u tio n ” r e q u ir e m e n t a s a n “e x tr e m e c o n c e p t, r e qui r i ng m or e tha n af

e w i s ol a t e d i nc i de nt s of ve rba l ha r a s s m e ntori nt i m i da t i on, and thatm er e har as sm entdo es no tam ou ntt o p er se cut i on . ” Sepu lve da v. U . S. A t t ’y G e n. , 4 0 1 F . 3 d 1 2 2 6 , 1 2 3 1 (1 1 th C i r. 2 0 0 5 ) (p er cu ri am ) (i n t ern al q u o t at i o n s, brac ket s, and ci t at i on om i tt ed). B e c a us e the B I A a f

f i rm e d the I J ’ s de c i s i on w i thoutopi ni on, the I J ’ s de c i s i on is th e f in a l a g e n c y d e c is io n s u b je c t to r e v ie w . Se e A l

N aj j ar , 2 5 7 F .3 d a t 1 2 8 4 . W e f i nd thatsubst ant i al evi dence s up po rt s the IJ ’ s c on cl usi on thatpet i t i on er s a re4

in e lig ib le f

o ra s y lu m o rw ith h o ld in g o f r e m o v a l. A s th e I J f

o u n d , th e in c id e n ts pet i t i on er s off

er ed t o sup po rtthei r app l i ca t i on , w i tho utm ore, do no tes t abl i sh that the y w e r e s ubj e c t e d t o pe r s e c ut i on buti ndi c a t e tha tthe y w e r e i nvol ve d i n the e x tr e m e ly p o litic iz e d tu rm o il th a t e x is te d in V e n e z u e la . I n f a c t, d o c u m e n ts s ubm i tt e d i nt o the r e c or d c onf i rm tha tV e ne z ue l ai s i n as t a t e of pol i t i c a l unr e s ta nd th a t th e p e titio n e r s s to o d o n o n e s id e o f a b a ttle th a t o c c a s io n a lly tu rn e d v io le n t. T he re cord do es no tcom pel re vers al of the IJ ’ s det erm i nat i on thatthe pet i t i on er s w er e “ si m pl y f

l ee i ng the po l ar i za t i on . . . encouraged by [P re si dentH ug o] C havez by hi s s up po rtof [B ol i vari an] C i rc l es , w ho som et i m e di d eng age i n act i vi t i es that w er e e xtre m e. ” A s the IJi nd i ca t ed, “ . . . there i s no t es t i m on y that[A po nt e] w as actu al l y phys i cal l

y harm ed . He wa s n e v e ra rr e s t e d . He wa s n e v e rt o r tu r e d . He w as never prec l ud ed fr om ea rni ng a l i vel i ho od , si nce pers ec ut i on ca n i ncl ud e a s e ve r e e c onom i c de pr i va t i on c ons t i tut i ng athr e a tt o a n i ndi vi dua l ’ s l i f e a nd fr ee do m . ” ( em ph as i s a dd ed). A l tho ug h there i s t es t i m on y thatC as t ano w as fi re d f r om he rj ob, the r e i s no t e s t i m ony tha te i the rof the m w e r e pr e c l ude d f

r om e a rni ng a l i ve l i hood i n V e ne z ue l a . A s the I J s t a t e d, “ . . . the r e i s no e c onom i c de pr i va t i on in th is c a s e . T h e r e is n o p h y s ic a l h a rm in th is c a s e . T h e r e w a s n o c o n f in e m e n t. T here w as no t orture. ” A l tho ug h the IJfoun d n o evi dence of psy chol og i ca l i nf l i c t i on of ha rm , the r e i s r e c or d e vi de nc e tha tC a s t a no s us t a i ne d a ne rvous b r e a k d o w n b e c a u s e o f

th e s e in c id e n ts . “B u t th e m e r e f a c t th a t [ C a s ta n o ] f

o u n d th is5

unde r s t a ndabl y di s tr e s s i ng doe s noti ndi c a t e tha tthe e ve nti t s e l f w a s a n i nf

l i c t i on o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l t o r tu r e . ” Th e I J g o e s o n t o s t a t e : “ Th e r e i s n o q u e s t i o n i n my m i n d th atth e [P et i t i o n ers’ s] fear w as su b j ect i v el y g en u i n e, b u t[th ey] m u stal so m ee tthe bu rden t o sho w that[thei r] fe arw as obj ec t i vel y r ea sonabl e. ” T he IJ c orr e c t l y de t e rm i ne d tha tthe r e w a s not“ ac onc e r t e d e f f or tt o puni s h [ the pet i t i on er s] for [ thei r] po l i t i ca l op i ni on . ” S ub st ant i al evi dence al so supp ort s the IJ ’ s det erm i nat i on thatthe pet i t i on er s h a d n o t e s tab lis h e d a w e ll- f o u n d e d f e a ro f f u tu r e p e r s e c u tio n if

th e y r e tu rn e d to V e ne z ue l a . A pont e t e s t i f i e d tha t , a f

t e rhe f l e d V e ne z ue l aa nd r e m a i ne d i n the U ni t e d S t a t e s f

orone m onth, he r e turne d t o V e ne z ue l af ortw o w e e ks w i thout in c id e n t. A p o n te ’s m o th e r , w h o a ls o p a r tic ip a te d in F r e e V e n e z u e lap u b lic de m ons tr a t i ons , s t i l l r e m a i ns i n V e ne z ue l aa nd ha s note xpe r i e nc e d a ny thr e a t s or ha rm f r om the gove rnm e ntorthe B ol i va r i a n C i r c l e s . B a s e d on thi s e vi de nc e , the r e c or d doe s notc om pe l r e ve r s a l of the I J ’ s f

i ndi ng tha tthe pe t i t i one r s do notha ve a n o b je c tiv e ly r e a s o n ab le f

e a ro f f u tu r e p e r s e c u tio n . S i nce the pet i t i on er s di d n otshow thatthey s uffe re d p as tpers ec ut i on or that the y ha ve a w e l l - f

ounde d f e a rof f utur e pe r s e c ut i on ba s e d on apr ot e c t e d gr ound, th ey d i d n o test ab l i sh el i g i b i l i ty fo r asyl u m . T h e p et i t i o n ers al so fai l ed t o est ab l i sh el i gi bi l i ty f

or w i thh ol di ng of re m ov al because they di d n otm ee tthe l ow erst andard f o ra s y lu m . Se e A l N

a jja r, 257 F . 3d a t1292- 93. P e t i t i one r s di d notr a i s e a ny6

a r gum e nt s i n the i rbr i e f w i th r e ga r d t o the i rde ni a l of C A T r e l i e f

a nd, thus , w e f

i nd th a t th e y h a v e ab a n d o n e d th a t is s u e . A l N aj j ar , 257 F . 3d a t1283 n. 12. PETI TI O N D EN I ED .