NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 17a0148n.06

Nos. 15-4333/16-3421

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

OTGONBAT SERJEEDORJ, Petitioner,

v. JEFF B. SESSIONS, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS

BEFORE: KEITH, BATCHELDER, and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM. Otgonbat Serj eedorj, a citizen of Mongolia , petitions through counsel

for review of two orders of the Bo ard of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Serjeedorj was born in Mongolia in 1977. He came to this country in 1999 to play in a baseball competition and overstayed his visa. He has been working as a truck driver and has

three United States citizen ch ildren. When placed in removal proceedings, he applied for asylum, withholding of removal, protection unde r the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and voluntary departure. A hearing was held before an immigration judge (IJ), at which Serjee dorj testified that he had been a player/coach for a Mongolian governme nt baseball team that was supported by the Japanese government. However, he learned through rumors that the money the JapaneseNos. 15-4333\16-3421, Serjeedorj v. Sessions

- 2 - intended for the team was being used by team mana gement for personal gai n. He protested this corruption, and also other government corruption of an undisclosed nature. This resulted in his being arrested in January and May of 1999. On th e first occasion, his pare nts bailed him out the same day. On the second occasion, Serjeedorj testified he was beaten by the police, lost consciousness, and woke up in the hospital later that ev ening. He testified that he was beaten “almost to death.” His injuries included a broken tooth, a broken wrist and finger, and swelling and bruising to his face. He was taken to ja il after he woke up and held overnight until his parents again secured his release. Serjeedorj clai med to fear persecution or torture based on his opposition to government corruption. When questioned about his application for voluntary departure, he equivocated about whether he could raise the money to post bond and indicated

that he would not want to retu rn to Mongolia, but he did not know of any other country he could go to without a visa. The IJ determined that the asylum application was untimely and that Serjeedorj had also failed to es tablish eligibility for asylum, w ithholding, or CAT protection due to the failure to establish the likelihood of pe rsecution or torture, an d based on his lack of credibility and failure to corrobor ate his claims. Voluntary depa rture was also denied based on Serjeedorj’s failure to convince the IJ that he would leave the country. Serjeedorj appealed to the BIA, which did not uphold the IJ’s finding that Serjeedorj’s testimony was not credible, concluding that he only exaggerated the extent of his injuries from the alleged beating. However, th e BIA agreed that Serjeedorj had not established eligibility for any of the requested relief. Se rjeedorj appealed that decision in Case No. 15-4333. The appeal was held in abeyance while Serjeedorj moved to reopen his case before the BIA. The BIA denied that motion, and Serjeedorj petitioned for review of that order in Case No. 16-3421. We granted Serjeedorj permission to proceed in forma pauperis.Nos. 15-4333\16-3421, Serjeedorj v. Sessions

- 3 - In his brief, Serjeedorj does not challenge th e denial of his asylum application or the denial of his motion for reopening. He does r eassert his claims for w ithholding of removal, protection under the CAT, and voluntary departur e. He also argues that the BIA erred in considering his first appeal with a single judge rath er than three judges, th at he was not given the opportunity to supply required corr oboration or explain its absence, and, finally, that the court

should facilitate his return if he is removed dur ing the pendency of this review and his petition for review is granted. The claims for asylum and reopening have been abandoned and will not be reviewed.

See Hachem v. Holder , 656 F.3d 430, 434 (6th Cir. 2011). Se rjeedorj states in a conclusory fashion that his original appeal should have been considered by a panel of judges rather than a single judge. Having shown no prej udice resulting from this alleged error, he is not entitled to any relief. See Vasha v. Gonzales , 410 F.3d 863, 875-76 (6th Cir. 2005). Serjeedorj argues that he wa s not given the opportunity to corroborate his claims or explain the lack of corroboration. Under 8 U.S. C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(ii), an alien may be required

to corroborate otherwise credible testimony unless he cannot reason ably obtain corroboration. In Gaye v. Lynch , 788 F.3d 519, 530 (6th Cir. 2015), we held th at an alien is not entitled to notice of the sort of evidence require d to corroborate his testimony. Se rjeedorj attempts to distinguish that case by arguing that the alien in Gaye was found not to be credib le, while the BIA in this case did not affirm the finding that his testimony was not credible. Howe ver, the plain language of the statute states that corroboration may be required even of otherwise credible testimony. Moreover, in this case, the IJ pointed out se veral problems with Serjeedorj’s documentation at the hearing on November 21, 2013, including that some of the documents had been typed over the top of a supposedly certifying seal and that some of the documents, alleged to have beenNos. 15-4333\16-3421, Serjeedorj v. Sessions

- 4 - independently translated twice, were identical. Serjeedorj did nothing to address these problems before the final merits hearing. An alien may be required to provide corroboration where it can reasonably be obtained, Urbina-Mejia v. Holder , 597 F.3d 360, 367 (6th Ci r. 2010), and we must uphold a finding that corroboration was required unl ess a reasonable trier of fact would be compelled to conclude that corrobo rating evidence was unavailable. Lin v. Holder , 565 F.3d 971, 977 (6th Cir. 2009). Here, the IJ noted that Serjeedorj testified he had a statement from his parents that could have corroborated his claims but he failed to have it translated. He also failed

to submit records of his arrests or medical trea tment, instead offering the questionable documents discussed above. Therefore, his argument that he was denied no tice or an opportunity to explain the lack of corroborating ev idence is without merit. To establish eligibility for withholding of re moval, Serjeedorj was required to show that it is more likely than not that he will be pers ecuted in Mongolia based on a protected ground. See Fang Huang v. Mukasey , 523 F.3d 640, 651 (6th Cir. 2008). To be eligible for protection under the CAT, Serjeedorj was requir ed to show that it is more lik ely than not that he will be tortured in Mongolia. See Kaba v. Mukasey , 546 F.3d 741, 751 (6th Cir. 2008). We uphold the conclusion below that Serjeedorj did not establish past persecution in order to be entitled to a presumption of future persecution. The beating Se rjeedorj described did not rise to the level of persecution. In Pilica v. Ashcroft , 388 F.3d 941, 954 (6th Cir. 2004), we found that the detention and beating of an alien that resulted in his hospitalization for a week was not sufficient to establish past persecution, and the incident de scribed by Serjeedorj was less extreme. He presented no evidence that he would face persecution or torture based on his activities nearly twenty years ago.Nos. 15-4333\16-3421, Serjeedorj v. Sessions

- 5 - Serjeedorj questions the denial of his request for voluntary departure, based on the BIA’s failure to reference every page of the hearing transcript containi ng discussion of the issue. We lack jurisdiction to review this claim. See Abu-Khaliel v. Gonzales , 436 F.3d 627, 630-31 (6th Cir. 2006). Finally, rather than file a motion for a st ay of removal pending this review, Serjeedorj requested that the court facilitate his return if he were removed during the pendency of the review but was successful in his appeal. We DENY this request as moot and DENY the petitions for review.