Source: http://openjurist.org/420/f3d/551/rreshpja-v-gonzales
Timestamp: 2016-02-11 21:17:35
Document Index: 264298068

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1101', '§ 1158', '§ 1101', '§ 208', '§ 1208', '§ 1231', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 1003']

420 F3d 551 Rreshpja v. Gonzales | OpenJurist
420 F. 3d 551 - Rreshpja v. Gonzales HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series420 F.3d
420 F3d 551 Rreshpja v. Gonzales 420 F.3d 551
Vitore RRESHPJA, Petitioner,v.Alberto GONZALES, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent.
No. 04-3808.
Decided and Filed: August 15, 2005.
ARGUED: Scott A. Keillor, Ypsilanti, Michigan, for Petitioner. Shelley Goad, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Scott A. Keillor, Ypsilanti, Michigan, for Petitioner. Shelley Goad, Linda S. Wendtland, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Because the BIA affirmed the decision of the IJ without issuing an opinion, we review the decision of the IJ directly. See Denko v. INS, 351 F.3d 717, 726 (6th Cir.2003) ("When the Board adopts the decision of the IJ in lieu of issuing its own opinion, we review the IJ's decision as the final agency decision."). "[I]n order to reverse the BIA's factual determinations, [we] must find that the evidence not only supports a contrary conclusion, but indeed compels it." Klawitter v. INS, 970 F.2d 149, 152 (6th Cir.1992) (emphasis in original).
B. The IJ did not err in denying Rreshpja's application for asylum, the withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT
Rreshpja argues that she faces persecution because she is an attractive young woman who risks being kidnapped and forced into prostitution if she returns to Albania. The IJ rejected this argument on the grounds that (1) the "social group" as defined by Rreshpja is not cognizable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A), and (2) even assuming that such a social group exists, Rreshpja failed to demonstrate that her attempted kidnapping in June of 2001 or her fear of being forced into prostitution if she is returned to Albania was the result of membership in that social group as opposed to the unfortunate consequences of widespread crime in Albania.
Pursuant to the INA, an applicant for asylum must show that she is a "refugee." 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b). A refugee is an individual who is unable or unwilling to return to her home country "because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). An applicant claiming to be a refugee must present specific facts demonstrating that she suffered past persecution or that she has a well-founded fear of future persecution. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992) (holding that the "BIA's determination that Elias-Zacarias was not eligible for asylum must be upheld if supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole") (citation and quotation marks omitted). If the asylum applicant satisfies her burden of establishing past persecution, "she is presumed to have a well-founded fear of [future] persecution." Mikhailevitch v. INS, 146 F.3d 384, 389 (6th Cir.1998) (citing 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(1)(i)). The INS may rebut that presumption by establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that conditions in the applicant's country have changed since the time of the persecution to such an extent that the applicant no longer has a well-founded fear of being persecuted if she were to return. Mikhailevitch, 146 F.3d at 389.
An applicant's fear of persecution must be both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. Perkovic v. INS, 33 F.3d 615, 620-21 (6th Cir.1994). She must therefore "actually fear that [she] will be persecuted upon return to [her] country," and she must demonstrate "an `objective situation' under which [her] fear can be deemed reasonable." Id. (quoting INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 440, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987)).
The BIA has defined a "social group" to be "a group of persons all of whom share a common, immutable characteristic." In re Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. 211, 233 (BIA 1985) (holding that a Salvadoran taxi cooperative did not constitute a particular social group, even though the members were being persecuted for refusing to participate in work stoppages, because the drivers could escape persecution by changing jobs), overruled on other grounds by In re Mogharrabi, 19 I. & N. Dec. 439 (BIA 1987). "[W]hatever the common characteristic that defines the group, it must be one that the members of the group either cannot change, or should not be required to change because it is fundamental to their individual identities or consciences." Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. at 233; see also Castellano-Chacon v. INS, 341 F.3d 533, 546, 549 (6th Cir.2003) (adopting the BIA's definition of a "social group," and holding that tattooed youth fall outside of that definition). The BIA, however, has never held that an entire gender can constitute a social group under the INA.
Rreshpja, however, cites Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785 (9th Cir.2005), as support for her argument that a social group may in fact be broadly defined. In Mohammed, the Ninth Circuit held that female genital mutilation constitutes persecution on account of membership in a particular social group and explained that "the agency could define the social group as that of Somalian females." Id. at 796-97. The court noted that "the practice of female genital mutilation in Somalia is . . . deeply imbedded [sic] in the culture throughout the nation and performed on approximately 98 percent of all females." Id. at 797. We do not necessarily agree with the Ninth Circuit's determination that virtually all of the women in Somalia are entitled to asylum in the United States. Regardless, we find that Mohammed is distinguishable from the present case because Rreshpja did not introduce any evidence to show that the practice of forcing young women into prostitution in Albania is nearly as pervasive as the practice of female genital mutilation in Somalia.
Second, a social group may not be circularly defined by the fact that it suffers persecution. The individuals in the group must share a narrowing characteristic other than their risk of being persecuted. Castellano-Chacon, 341 F.3d at 548 ("[S]ociety's reaction to a `group' may provide evidence in a specific case that a particular group exists, as long as the reaction by persecutors to members of a particular social group is not the touchstone defining the group."). If the group with which Rreshpja is associated is defined noncircularly—i.e., simply as young, attractive Albanian women—then virtually any young Albanian woman who possesses the subjective criterion of being "attractive" would be eligible for asylum in the United States.
Rreshpja also argues that, even in the absence of a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of membership in a particular social group, a "humanitarian grant" of asylum is appropriate in her case. To qualify for such a discretionary grant of asylum, an alien must either demonstrate "compelling reasons for being unwilling or unable to return to the country arising out of the severity of the past persecution" or "establish[] that there is a reasonable possibility that he or she may suffer other serious harm upon removal to that country." 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(1)(iii)(A) & (B); see also In re Chen, 20 I. & N. Dec. 16, 21 (BIA 1989) (concluding that, although the respondent did not show a possibility of future persecution because the cultural revolution in China had ended, forcing him to return to China would be inhumane).
Finally, Rreshpja claims that the IJ erred in finding that some aspects of her testimony lacked credibility. We need not determine whether this assertion is correct because, even assuming that all of Rreshpja's testimony was consistent with both her asylum application and the relevant country condition reports, she has not established either past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution "on account of . . . membership in a particular social group." 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(A); Castellano-Chacon, 341 F.3d at 548.
To be eligible for the withholding of removal pursuant to the INA, an alien must establish that her life or freedom would be threatened in the proposed country of removal on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). The petitioner must establish a "clear probability of persecution." INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 413, 104 S.Ct. 2489, 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984). This burden of proof is more stringent than that required to establish eligibility for asylum. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. at 431-32, 107 S.Ct. 1207. Because Rreshpja has not established that she is eligible for asylum, she "cannot satisfy the more stringent standard for withholding of deportation." Koliada v. INS, 259 F.3d 482, 489 (6th Cir.2001).
3. Protection under the CAT
To be eligible for protection under the CAT, an alien must establish "that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal." 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(2).
Ali v. Reno, 237 F.3d 591, 597 (6th Cir.2001) (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.18(a)(1)).
The IJ found that Rreshpja was ineligible for relief under the CAT because she had failed to establish that government officials acquiesced in her attempted kidnapping or that they would continue to acquiesce in any future persecution. "According to the regulations, `the term "acquiescence" requires that the public official, prior to the activity constituting torture, have awareness of such activity and thereafter breach his legal responsibility to intervene to prevent such activity.'" See Ali, 237 F.3d at 597 (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.18(a)(7)).
C. Rreshpja's due process rights were not violated when the BIA affirmed the IJ's opinion without issuing its own opinion on the matter
Rreshpja next claims that the BIA's use of the summary-affirmance-without-opinion procedure, known as "streamlining," violated her rights under the INA and/or the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Because she did not raise her claim for asylum on humanitarian grounds before the IJ, she contends that the BIA was obligated to issue an opinion addressing this claim. Rreshpja also argues that the IJ's opinion contains errors of law and fact that should have been corrected by the BIA.
Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(e)(4), a single BIA member is authorized to affirm an IJ's decision without stating the basis for the affirmance if the criteria set forth in the regulation are met. Such an affirmance indicates that the IJ decided the case correctly, that any errors committed by the IJ were immaterial or harmless, and either that the issue is squarely controlled by precedent and does not involve a novel factual issue or that the factual and legal issues raised on appeal are too insubstantial to warrant a three-member review. Id.
The government argues that we should decline to review the decision of the BIA to streamline Rreshpja's appeal because "agency action which has been committed to the absolute discretion of an agency is not reviewable." This court has not explicitly ruled to the contrary, but it has noted that "this argument for committing this decision to the agency's discretion is doubtful because there are judicially manageable standards available to a reviewing court." Denko, 351 F.3d at 731; see also Hassan v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 429, 437 (6th Cir.2005) ("[W]hether an alien may challenge the BIA's use of its streamlining procedure pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act . . . remains an open question before this court."). We need not decide whether the decision of the BIA to streamline Rreshpja's case is reviewable, however, because the case before us does not present a novel factual or legal question. Cf. Chen v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 1081, 1086-87 (9th Cir.2004) (holding that the BIA lacked the authority to streamline a petitioner's appeal because no BIA or federal court precedent squarely controlled the legal issue presented and because the issues raised on appeal were not insubstantial). A ruling on the BIA's streamlining procedure is therefore unnecessary.
D. The BIA did not err in denying Rreshpja's motion to reconsider
We are precluded from considering Rreshpja's arguments regarding the decision of the BIA to deny her motion to reconsider because she did not designate the August 2004 decision in her petition for review. See Momoh v. BIA, 75 Fed.Appx. 969, 971 (5th Cir.2003) (unpublished) (denying the petitioner's motion to review a decision of the BIA because the motion "does not designate the district court's judgment and cannot be interpreted fairly to evince an intent to appeal that judgment"); 8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(1) ("The petition for review must be filed not later than 30 days after the date of the final order of removal."). The only appeal filed by Rreshpja with this court is from the BIA's May 24, 2003 summary affirmance of the IJ's decision. See Stone v. INS, 514 U.S. 386, 405, 115 S.Ct. 1537, 131 L.Ed.2d 465 (1995) (distinguishing between a petition to review the BIA's underlying decision and a petition for review of the denial of reopening or reconsideration).