Opinion ID: 4555654
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Individualized Risk of Persecution

Text: Lingeswaran argues that he will be targeted for persecution because the Sri Lankan army detained and tortured his brother and instructed him to check in weekly at the army camp until Lingeswaran returned. He also claims that in 2015, the army warned his brother that Lingeswaran’s name was on a list at the airport and the army would arrest and kill him as soon as he returned. The BIA considered Lingeswaran’s brother’s experience: it observed that “[a]lthough [Lingeswaran’s] brother was arrested upon returning to Sri Lanka [in 2015], the respondent did not establish that his brother is still being targeted by the Sri Lankan military.” Nothing in the record disturbs that finding, which undermines any argument that Lingeswaran’s fear remains objectively reasonable, even assuming it once was objectively reasonable. See Djonda, 514 F.3d at 1176 (“[W]e would still deny . . . relief because the record does not compel the conclusion that [the petitioner] has a well-founded fear that he will be treated like his brother[].”). And, other than his own merits hearing testimony, Lingeswaran did not provide any evidence that the Sri Lankan army told his brother that they would imprison Lingeswaran for a significant period or otherwise harm him. See id. at 1176. Finally, the IJ found that “there is no evidence whatsoever that his name is on the list at the airport, that as soon as he gets there he is going to be picked up 18 Case: 18-13489 Date Filed: 08/13/2020 Page: 19 of 29 and incarcerated and perhaps even killed.” We agree. Nothing in the record, other than Lingeswaran’s vague, uncorroborated testimony about a warning given to his brother in 2015 by an unidentified member of the Sri Lankan army, indicates that Lingeswaran’s name is on any airport list. Thus, the record does not compel us to find that that Lingeswaran has an objectively reasonable fear that the Sri Lankan army will single him out for persecution. Sepulveda, 401 F.3d at1231.15