Opinion ID: 784677
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Oforji's Claim for Derivative Asylum Under the Convention Against Torture

Text: 20 We turn next to Oforji's argument that her United States citizen daughters are likely to suffer FGM in Nigeria if Oforji is deported. Oforji bases this claim of derivative asylum or constructive deportation (hereinafter used interchangeably) on the United Nations Convention Against Torture as made judicially enforceable through 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16(c) and 208.18(b)(2). See Castellano-Chacon v. INS, 341 F.3d 533, 551 (6th Cir.2003) (explaining briefly the process by which the non-self executing provisions of the Convention Against Torture became judicially enforceable). 21 The conditions under which an alien may be found eligible for the withholding of removal as a result of the probability of being subjected to torture in the country of removal are set forth in 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c). The regulation states in relevant part that: 22 In considering an application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, the immigration judge shall first determine whether the alien is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal. If the immigration judge determines that the alien is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal, the alien is entitled to protection under the Convention Against Torture. Protection under the Convention Against Torture will be granted either in the form of withholding of removal or in the form of deferral of removal. 23 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(4) (emphasis added). 24 We review the BIA's determination against withholding the removal of an alien for substantial evidence. See, e.g., Ambati v. Reno, 233 F.3d 1054, 1059 (7th Cir. 2000). The language of the regulation unambiguously permits withholding of removal due to torture personally suffered by the alien: 25 The burden of proof is on the applicant for withholding of removal under this paragraph to establish that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. The testimony of the applicant, if credible, may be sufficient to sustain the burden of proof without corroboration. 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(2) (emphasis added) 26 Oforji has testified that she had already undergone FGM before entering this country, thus there is no chance that she would be personally tortured again by the procedure when sent back to Nigeria. 2 The regulation language is confined to the alien-applicant and seemingly forecloses a derivative claim. Nevertheless, Oforji requests this court to extend derivative asylum to her based on new expansions and considerations reflected in case law such as Nwaokolo v. INS, 314 F.3d 303 (7th Cir.2002), and In re Kasinga, 21 I & N. Dec. 357 (BIA 1996). Oforji bases this request on her claim that [t]his court has previously recognized that when an alien minor's parent is deported, the minor will have to accompany the parent into exile and is also effectively deported. 27 It is important to understand that claims of constructive deportation are cognizable only if such a claim falls squarely within the narrow holdings of the cases creating the doctrine. A brief review of these cases distinguishes Oforji's circumstances from the narrow ambit required for a claim of constructive deportation. 28 Salameda involved a review of the now amended section 244(a)(1) 3 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a)(1), which permitted the BIA to suspend deportation in its discretion if the alien proved, inter alia, physical presence in the United States for at least seven years and that deportation would result in extreme hardship to the alien or to his spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The Salamedas' child, Lancelot, was not a United States citizen, nor was he admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Accordingly, the IJ determined that the above statute precluded consideration of the hardship to Lancelot due to his parents' deportation. Id. However, the Salameda court concluded that since Lancelot was an alien with no legal right to remain in the United States, the deportation of his parents would result in him being constructively deported and that this hardship should have been considered by the INS. Id. 29 Significantly, unlike Oforji's children, the minor child in Salameda was not a United States citizen. Yet he was subject to deportation because his parents were being deported. The question raised was whether he was entitled to ask for relief on his own account. Id. at 451. Since he was not the target of deportation, the order in that case had the effect of depriving him of the right to request suspension of deportation. Id. The panel majority labeled the failure of the INS to include the minor in his parents' deportation hearing as an ignoble ploy. 30 Oforji's claim does not fall within the narrow ambit of Salameda. Oforji's two female children potentially subject to FGM are both United States citizens, and thus, unlike the child in Salameda, have the legal right to remain in the United States. Moreover, Salameda involved both parents of the child being deported. Despite having the burden of proof regarding eligibility for withholding of removal under 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(2), Oforji has failed to set forth any evidence regarding the existence or whereabouts of the father (or on the additional alternative of having a guardian appointed — a distasteful Solomonic choice) of her United States citizen children. 4 The children, as citizens, have an independent right to not be deported, but obviously they are dependent on their mother. So depending on the father's whereabouts, or the appointment of a guardian, they may have an opportunity to not follow their mother to Nigeria. 31 Turning to the remaining cases cited by Oforji, Nwaokolo is inapposite because it presented an alien's appeal from the denial of a petition to reopen removal proceedings. The appellant needed to show to this court some likelihood of success on the merits, part of a relatively low standard of review. Nwaokolo, involving an alien mother who had not been subjected to FGM, merely noted that [i]t is arguable, therefore, that the BIA abused its discretion in denying Ms. Nwaokolo's motion to reopen if it failed to consider the threat that four-year-old Victoria will be subjected to FGM as a direct consequence of the decision to remove her mother. Id. at 308 (citation omitted) (emphasis added). 32 Ms. Nwaokolo, also a native and citizen of Nigeria, legally entered the United States in the early 1980's. Because she accepted a job in violation of the terms of her visa, she was ordered deported but never left after being granted voluntary departure in 1986. She did not appeal, but beginning in 1996 filed several motions to reopen, seeking a stay of deportation. At that point she had three children, including a four-year-old girl who was a United States citizen. Also, she apparently had a continuous presence in the country for more than the prescribed seven-year time period. Given that status, under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D), she had an opportunity to have her removal cancelled and her status adjusted if she could establish that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to [her] ... child who is a citizen of the United States... Because the BIA may have failed to consider the threat that four-year-old Victoria [would] be subjected to FGM as a direct consequence of the decision to remove her mother, this court concluded that the BIA did not exercise its discretion by considering all relevant factors regarding the motion to reopen. See id. 33 Unlike Nwaokolo, Oforji did not first enter the United States legally, nor has she resided in the United States for the required continuous seven-year period. Thus she does not qualify for the exceptional hardship claim for her child under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D). Although the threatened hardship for her children is apparent, there is no statutory or regulatory authority for Oforji to have her own deportation suspended because she fears for her children if they return to Nigeria with her. Of course, as indicated above, as United States citizens they have the right to stay here without her, but that would likely require some form of guardianship — not a Hobson's choice, but a choice no mother wants to make. Given the undesirable consequences of the choice she has to make, Oforji is in effect requesting that we amend the law to allow deportable aliens who have not resided here continuously for seven or ten years to attach derivatively to the right of their citizen children to remain in the United States. Any such amendment is for Congress, not the courts, to consider. 34 Finally, Kasinga is of no avail to Oforji because it involved an applicant who feared that she personally would be subjected to FGM if deported to her native country. Kasinga made specific findings that the alien applicant for asylum had a well founded fear of persecution, a fear that is obviously not present in Oforji's case since she has already been subjected to FGM. 35 Oforji is correct that the IJ's opinion (adopted by the BIA) does not reflect consideration of the hardship that her deportation would cause in that it could potentially place her children at risk of FGM; however, Oforji cannot identify a legal basis for considering such hardships in the context of this case. As an excludable alien, it is undisputed that Oforji does not qualify for suspension of deportation. In addition, the continuous presence requirement 5 for suspension of deportation (which it is undisputed that Oforji does not meet) demonstrates that Congress considered the possibility of hardships to the family members of aliens not meeting the requirements for suspension of deportation, but limited the possibility of suspension to those who remained in the United States continuously for ten years. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(1) (2002). 36 Undoubtedly, any separation of a child from its mother is a hardship. However, the question before us is whether this potential hardship to citizen children arising from the mother's deportation should allow an otherwise unqualified mother to append to the children's right to remain in the United States. The answer is no. Our prior cases have suggested that the threat of FGM to a United States citizen child resulting from the alien parents' deportation is a relevant factor to be considered in the context of a motion to reopen an alien's case; however, we now hold that an alien parent who has no legal standing to remain in the United States may not establish a derivative claim for asylum by pointing to potential hardship to the alien's United States citizen child in the event of the alien's deportation. 37 Assuming that the father of Oforji's children is out of the picture (which, as previously stated, cannot be assumed based on the record), Oforji will be faced with the unpleasant dilemma of permitting her citizen children to remain in this country under the supervision of the state of Illinois or an otherwise suitable guardian, or taking her children back to Nigeria to face the potential threat of FGM. Congress has foreseen such difficult choices, but has opted to leave the choice with the illegal immigrant, not the courts. The law is clear that citizen family members of illegal aliens have no cognizable interest in preventing an alien's exclusion and deportation. See, e.g., Garcia v. Boldin, 691 F.2d 1172, 1182-83 (5th Cir.1982); Burrafato v. United States Dept. of State, 523 F.2d 554 (2d Cir.1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 910, 96 S.Ct. 1105, 47 L.Ed.2d 313 (1976); Cervantes v. INS, 510 F.2d 89, 91-92 (10th Cir.1975); Swartz v. Rogers, 254 F.2d 338 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 357 U.S. 928 (1958). Under the present law a woman who is otherwise a deportable alien does not have any incentive to bear a child (who automatically becomes a citizen) whose rights to stay are separate from the mother's obligation to depart. 38