Opinion ID: 203910
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The IJ's and BIA's decisions and the whole administrative record

Text: The IJ determined that Makieh failed to meet his burden of establishing that it was more likely than not that he would be either persecuted or tortured if he were removed to Syria. The IJ explained that no harm had ever come to Makieh while he was growing up in Syria, that his American-citizen father travels to and from Syria without difficulty or harm, and that Makieh's contention that he has lived in this country and thus, is fearful of returning does not demonstrate a clear probability that he would be persecuted. Having carefully reviewed the entire administrative record on which the IJ and BIA based their decisions, we are satisfied that those decisions are amply supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole. Castillo-Diaz, 562 F.3d at 26. While the record does contain documents substantiating the recent growth of Islamic radicalism in Syria, those documentsfor instance, the Travel Warning issued by the U.S. State Department following the September 12, 2006, bombing of the embassy in Damascusspecifically point to dangers to Americans and American interests. The administrative record simply does not support Makieh's claim that he would more likely than not be persecuted because he is a Syrian who has lived in the United States for seventeen years, nor his claim that he more likely than not would be tortured if he were to return to Syria.