Opinion ID: 788980
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Convention Against Torture (CAT)

Text: 25 Despite his felony conviction, Ali can obtain protection from deportation under the CAT. That treaty, adopted as federal law by section 2242(a) of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1988, 8 U.S.C. § 1231, forbids deporting an alien to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture. The implementing regulation defines substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture as meaning that the alien is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal. 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(4). 26 The IJ concluded that Ali failed to establish that he would most likely be tortured if returned to Afghanistan. As the BIA summarily affirmed the IJ's decision without opinion, we review the IJ's decision. Vladimirova, 377 F.3d at 695. We apply the substantial evidence standard, that is, we determine whether the final agency decision is supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole, and reverse only if the evidence compels a contrary conclusion. Ahmed v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 611, 615 (7th Cir.2003) (internal citations omitted). 27 To support his CAT claim, Ali, in addition to documentary evidence, relied on his own testimony and that of Mohammad Basheer. Basheer is an educator originally from Afghanistan who has been employed at the University of Nebraska in Omaha since 1988. Ali testified before the IJ that he feared removal to Afghanistan because he has been in the United States since age three and, for all intents and purposes, is American. Ali argued that Afghanistan is essentially unknown to him. Ali stated that he does not speak, read or write Farsi with any fluency. Ali also contended that he has no family or friends in Afghanistan. Ali also expressed concern over the declining health of his parents, who live in the United States. Basheer testified that in his opinion both government and non-governmental forces will view Ali, with his American disposition and upbringing, as suspicious and possibly a spy. As such, Basheer concluded, Ali is vulnerable to government-sanctioned torture. However, the IJ did not give Basheer's testimony much weight, noting that the testimony was not corroborated in any way. Further, Basheer admitted that he had not conducted research on torture in Afghanistan since December of 2001. 28 We are sympathetic to Ali's situation. We recognize that being deported to a country that one does not know and that has been ravaged by war and political instability is understandably a source of fear. Nonetheless, the law compels us to reach this result. On this administrative record, we cannot conclude that the IJ's denial of CAT relief was not supported by substantial evidence. 29