2010 D e c i sion s O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit 3-19-2010 

# M oh amm a d Zarin v

. Atty Ge n U SA P r e c e de nt i al or N on-P r e c e de nt i al : N on-P r e c e de nt i al D ocke t N o . 09-2023

F o llow thi s and a dd it ion al work s at : http://d i git alc ommon s .l a w . vi ll anova . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2010

Thi s de c i sion i s br ou ght t o you for f r e e and ope n a c c e s s b y the O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit at V i ll anova U nive r sity S choo l of L a

w Di git al Reposit ory

. It h as be e n a c c ept e d for inclusion in 2010 D e c i sion s b y an authori z e d a dmini s tr at or of V i ll anova U nive r sity S choo l of L a

w Di git al Reposit ory

. F or mor e inform at ion, p le as e c ont a ct Be n j amin . C arl s on@l a

w . vi ll anova . e du . Re c omme nde d C it at ion " M o h amm a d Zarin v

. Atty Ge n U SA" (2010). 2010 D e cisio n s . P ape r 1685. http://d i git alc ommon s .l a

w . vi ll anova . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2010/1685NOT P RE CE DE NT I AL UN I TED STATES CO UR T OF A PP EALS F O R T H E T H IR D C IR C U IT

___________ N o. 09- 2023

___________ M OHAMM AD Z AR I N,

Pet i t i oner v. A TTO RN EY G EN ER A L O F TH E U N I TED STA TES, R es pondent

____________________________________ O n Pet i t i on forR evi ew of an O r derof the B o a rd o f Im m ig ra tio n A p p e a ls ( A gencyN o. A 079- 734- 995)

____________________________________ Subm i tt ed Pur s uantt o T hi r d C i r cui tL A R 34. 1( a)

M ar ch 17, 2010 B efor e: B A R R Y , ST A PL E T O N and N Y G A A R D , C i r cui tJ udges

( O pi ni on fi l ed: M ar ch 19, 2010)

___________ OP I NI ON

___________ P E R C UR I AM M ohamm ad Zar i n pet i t i ons forr evi ew of a de ci s i on of the B oar d of I m m i gr at i on Ap p e a l s ( BI A) . F o rth e r e a s o n s b e l o w, we wi l l d e n yth e p e t i t i o n f o rr e v i e w.A di ffe r entI J handl ed the mat t eron r emand. 1 2 Z ar i n ent er ed the U ni t ed St at es i n February2001 as a vi s i t or . I n M ar ch 2003, he w as char ged as r emovabl e forover s t ay i ng hi s admi s s i on per i od. H e conc eded r emovabi l i tyand appl i ed forw i thhol di ng of r emoval and r el i ef unde rthe C onvent i on Ag a i n s tT o r tu r e ( CA T ) b a s e d o n h i s me mb e r s h i p i n th e P a k i s t a n i M u s l i m L e a g u e . He a l s o r e q u e s t e d v o l u n t a r yd e p a r tu r e . Af t e ra h e a r i n g , th e I J f

o u n d Z a r i n n o tc r e d i b l e . On th a t b a s is , th e IJ d e n ie d Z a ri n ’s a p p lic a tio n s f o r w ith h o ld in g o f

re m o v a l a n d C A T re lie f. T he I J al s o deni ed Zar i n’ s appl i cat i on forvol unt arydepartur e and f ound thatZ ar i n had fi l ed a f r i vol ous as y l um appl i cat i on. O n appea l , the B I A aff i r m ed the deni al of r el i ef but rev erse d the f

ind ing o f f

ri v o lou sn ess. Itrem an d ed the m att er to the IJ t o co n side r Z arin’s appl i cat i on forvol unt arydepartur e bec aus e the I J had notexpl ai ned hi s r eas oni ng for d en y ing the a p p li ca ti o n . O n rem an d , the IJ g ran ted Z arin v o lun taryd ep arture. T h e B IA 1 th e n r e a f f i r me d i t s d e n i a l o f

r e l i e f , a n d Z a r i n f

i l e d a t i me l yp e t i t i o n f

o rr e v i e w. W e have j ur i s di ct i on pur s uantt o 8 U . S. C . § 1252. T o es t abl i s h el i gi bi l i tyfor w i thhol di ng of r emoval , Z ar i n neede d t o demonstr at e thati tw as m or e l i kel ythan nott hat h i s l i f e w o u l d b e th r e a t e n e d i n P a k i s t a n o n a c c o u n to f r a c e , r e l i g i o n , n a t i o n a l i ty, m ember s hi p i n a part i cul ars oci al gr oup, orpol i t i cal opi ni on. T arr aw al l yv. A s hcr oft , 338 F. 3d 180, 186 ( 3d C i r . 2003) ; 8 U . S. C . § 1231( b) ( 3) ( A ) . T o be el i gi bl e forw i thhol di ng of re m o v a l u n d e r th e C o n v e n tio n A g a in st T o rtu re , Z a rin n e e d e d to d e m o n stra te th a t itis mo r e l i k e l yth a n n o tth a th e wo u l d b e t o r tu r e d i f r e mo v e d t o P a k i s t a n . 8 C. F . R.3

§ 2 0 8 .1 6 (c )(2 ). W e m u st u p h o ld th e a d v e rse c re d ib ili tyf in d in g u n les s a n yre a so n a b le a d ju d ica to r w o u ld b e c o m p e lled to c o n c lu d e to th e c o n tra ry . F iad jo e v . A tto rn e yG e n e ra l, 4 1 1 F . 3 d 1 3 5 , 1 5 3 (3 d C ir . 2 0 0 5 ). T h e IJ b ase d the a d v erse cre d ibil ityfin d ing o n sev era l i n co n sist en cies in Z arin’s evi dence . I n hi s br i ef, Z ar i n ar gues onl ythathe had tr oubl e r emem ber i ng dat es and w as n erv o u s af

ter be ing b ad g ere d b ythe IJ. H e d o es n o t add ress o r ch all en g e a n yo f th e IJ’s s peci fi c fi ndi ngs . Sever al of the i ncons i s t enci es m ent i oned bythe I J w er e notbas ed on d a tes . T h e IJ n o ted th e d isc re p a n c ies b e tw e e n Z a rin ’s te stim o n ya n d h is a f f id a v it re g a rd in g w h e th e r a n d w h e n h e w e n t to K a ra c h i f o r m e d ica l trea tm e n t af ter a lleg e d ly bei ng det ai ned and be at en bythe pol i ce. T he I J al s o poi nt ed outthatZ ar i n t es t i fi ed that th e p o lice m a d e h im sig n a p a p e r sa y in g th a t h e w o u ld g iv e u p h is p o lit ica l ac tiv iti e s in o rd e r to b e re lea se d . H o w e v e r, th e re w a s n o th in g in h is a f f id a v it ab o u t b e in g f

o rc e d to sig n a n yp a p e rs. T h e IJ a lso n o ted th e in c o n sis ten c yb e tw e e n Z a rin ’s te stim o n ya n d h is af fid av itreg ard ing w h ethe r he h ad to p aya b o n d to b e re lease d fro m d eten ti o n . T h e IJ al s o r el i ed on Zar i n’ s fai l ur e t o m ent i on hi s ext ended s t ay s i n B ahr ai n unt i l as ked byt he g o v ern m en t abo u t th em o n cro ss-ex am ination . W e d o n o t believe itw as u n fa irfo r th e IJ to q u e stio n Z a rin o n th e tim e h e sp e n t in B a h ra in ; th e IJ b e liev e d th a t Z a rin ’s tim e in B a h r a i n u n d e r m i n e d h i s t e s t i m o n yo f b e i n g i n v o l v e d w i th th e Mu s l i m L e a g u e . We cannotconcl ude thatanyr eas onabl e adj udi cat orw oul d be compel l ed t o concl ude that Z ar i n w as cr edi bl e. T hus , Z ar i n di d notm eethi s bur den of de m ons tr at i ng el i gi bi l i tyforwi th h o l d i n g o f r e mov a l a n d p r o t e c t i o n u n d e rth e CA T. Z ar i n al s o chal l enges the I J ’ s r efus al t o acc eptdocument s s ubm i tt ed as evi dence on the d ayof the heari ng . W e agree w i th the part i es that the IJ’ s r ej ect i on of these document s s houl d be r evi ew ed foran abus e of di s cr et i on. See Tang v. A t t ’ yG en. , 578 F .3 d 1 2 7 0 , 1 2 7 6 (1 1 th C ir . 2 0 0 9 ); D e d ji v . M u k a s e y , 5 2 5 F .3 d 1 8 7 , 1 9 1 (2 d C ir . 2 0 0 8 ). Z ar i n des cr i bes the document s as a l ett erfr om the U ni on C ounci l H aza r a, a l ett erfr om t he G ener al Secr et aryof the Paki s t ani M us l i m L eague , and an a ffi davi t . H e does notdes cr i be the cont entof the document s . A tthe hea r i ng, Z ar i n as s ert ed thatthe del ays t emm ed fr om h is w ife’s il li teracyan d the lac k o f p o stal sy stem in h is vil lage . T h e IJ rejec ted Z arin’s expl anat i on fornots ubm i t t i ng the document s w i thi n the t i m e al l ow ed. A . R . at197. T he IJ n o ted th a t th e h e a rin g h a d b e e n sc h e d u led e ig h tee n m o n th s e a rlier a n d Z a rin h a d p len ty o f tim e to p re p a re h is c a s e . T h e IJ d id n o t a b u s e h is d is c re tio n in re je c tin g th e e v id e n c e . M o r e o v e r , Za r i n h a s n o te x p l a i n e d h o w t h e s e d o c u me n t s wo u l d h a v e a l t e r e d th e o u t c o me o f h is h e a rin g . H e h a s n o t d e sc rib e d th e c o n ten t o f th e se d o c u m e n ts o r h o w th e yw o u ld underm i ne the I J ’ s adver s e cr edi bi l i tyfi ndi ng. F o rth e a b o v e r e a s o n s , we wi l l d e n yth e p e t i t i o n f o rr e v i e w.

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