Opinion ID: 2802962
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: BIA Appeal and Remand

Text: On appeal to the BIA, Awoleye argued, inter alia, that he had not received good counsel and that the inconsistencies between his asylum application and his hearing testimony occurred because Awoleye’s attorney revised his asylum application on the morning of the removal hearing without Awoleye’s knowledge. Awoleye submitted additional evidence, including, among other things: (1) two February 2011 newspaper articles indicating that, in addition to the NNIFG killing his four siblings, his mother and father were found dead along a road in Jos on January 31, 2011, after receiving threats from the NNIFG and (2) articles describing violence taking place in Northern Nigeria, including near Jos, and the radical Islamic group Boko Haram. In April 2013, the BIA sustained Awoleye’s appeal and remanded for further proceedings. The BIA, after noting the IJ’s credibility finding and summarizing the evidence, stated that Awoleye’s ineffective counsel claims essentially constituted a request for a remand. The BIA noted that the IJ’s credibility determination was primarily based on inconsistencies between Awoleye’s testimony and his application that may have been due to counsel’s failure to review the application with Awoleye. 6 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 7 of 29 Given that the IJ’s adverse credibility finding in turn supported the IJ’s finding that Awoleye had not otherwise met his burden of proof, the BIA concluded that a remand was necessary for further development of the record and a new credibility determination. The BIA noted the articles documenting the deaths of Awoleye’s parents and attributing the deaths to the NNIFG, but declined to address Awoleye’s extensive new documentation or any of the remaining bases for the IJ’s decision. Instead, the BIA remanded for the IJ to enter a new decision considering: (1) whether the record contained sufficient evidence establishing a substantial likelihood of future harm for purposes of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief; and (2) whether internal relocation was reasonable. E. Awoleye’s March 2013 Marriage Fraud Conviction Prior to the second removal hearing, the parties submitted numerous documents, including a criminal judgment indicating that, in March 2013, Awoleye pled guilty to marriage fraud, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c).3 Awoleye’s conviction was based on statements of his ex-wife, Donna Kemp, a U.S. citizen, who had filed an I-130 petition for Awoleye that was denied in 2008. Kemp told federal investigators that she married Awoleye after he promised her money from his Olympic winnings. The factual resume, issued in conjunction with Awoleye’s 3 In his written plea agreement, Awoleye recognized that his guilty plea might “have consequences with respect to immigration status,” and affirmed he wanted to plead guilty “regardless of any immigration consequences . . . even if the consequence is his automatic removal from the United States.” 7 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 8 of 29 written plea agreement, stated that: (1) Awoleye married a Nigerian citizen, Florence Nna, in January 2005, while both he and Nna were in the U.S. on student visas; (2) in July 2006, while still married to Nna, Awoleye entered into a sham marriage with Kemp to fraudulently obtain lawful permanent resident status; (3) during the entirety of the marriage to Kemp, Awoleye lived with Nna; and (4) at Awoleye’s direction, Kemp filed an I-130 petition that falsely indicated that Kemp lived with Awoleye. F. September 2013 Removal Hearing At the second removal hearing in September 2013, Awoleye, now appearing pro se, testified that he married Nna, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, in the summer of 2011 and that they had four children together. According to Awoleye, his parents were killed in Nigeria, and a newspaper article tied their deaths to the NNIFG, but Awoleye did not know personally how they had died. Awoleye had four deceased siblings, and, according to a newspaper article he provided to the IJ, they also were killed by the NNIFG in two separate incidents in April and June of 2010. The IJ asked Awoleye to spell the names of his siblings who had been killed, and Awoleye identified them as “Oluwafunmilayo Awoleye,” “Abosede Awoleye,” “Oluwashole Awoleye,” and “Oluwasin Awoleye.” Awoleye could not remember the ages of his deceased siblings or whether his siblings were older or 8 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 9 of 29 younger than him. He stated he was a middle child and explained that he did not know whether he was younger or older because “[w]e don’t celebrate the birthday like, like people do.” When the IJ asked him which siblings went to school first, Awoleye stated that he used to remember this information but a lot of things had happened since Awoleye came to the United States. The IJ examined Awoleye’s documents regarding the deaths of his siblings and asked Awoleye if his sister Oluwabosede (or “Abosede”) had been killed. Awoleye responded that Oluwabosede had not been killed. He said that Oluwafunmilayo and Oluwashola had been killed. The IJ asked if Oluwatosin had been killed. Awoleye responded, “That was one I was missing from the, from the beginning, Your Honor.” Awoleye stated that two of the siblings who were killed were Oluwafunmilayo and Oluwafemi. The two males that were killed were Oluwashola and Oluwafemi. The IJ asked if Awoleye understood that these names were different than the names he had just provided during his testimony, and Awoleye responded that he was tired and was “just trying to wake up,” as he had been sitting at a computer “[o]utside at the gate here” the previous night. Awoleye stated that he was never harmed in Nigeria, and he last came back to the United States from Nigeria in August 2008. Awoleye filed his asylum application in 2010, after he called his father, who told him of his family’s recent difficulties in Nigeria and advised him not to return. Awoleye initially stated that 9 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 10 of 29 his father told him a “[c]ouple of weeks” before a Nigerian track and field event set for mid-to-late June that if he returned to Nigeria for the event he might be killed. Awoleye and the IJ then engaged in an extended discussion to try to determine precisely when this telephone call took place. Awoleye repeatedly stated he could not remember the precise date, but when the IJ pressed him and asked for his “best estimate,” Awoleye said the call occurred sometime in mid-May. Awoleye said that his father told him that he was attacked by Muslims for preaching in the Christian community in Jos. Awoleye explained that while Jos is majority Christian, it lies in the northern part of Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim. Awoleye said that although the attacks occurred in northern Nigeria, the problems were beginning to spread to southern Nigeria. Awoleye explained that in the first phone call, his father said only that he was having problems with Muslim extremists. Later, when Awoleye told his father he needed to return to Nigeria to make money at the track event, his father told him that his two sisters had been killed and that the extremists had found out Awoleye would be returning home because his name was in the newspaper. The IJ asked Awoleye why, if the extremists wanted Awoleye’s father to stop preaching, they were interested in Awoleye. Awoleye responded that four children were already lost and that the extremists indicated in a letter that he was next in line. The IJ asked Awoleye why the NNIFG killed Awoleye’s siblings 10 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 11 of 29 after saying that they would kill his father. Awoleye responded that the violence against his family was retaliation because his father would not stop preaching. Awoleye admitted he had never personally been contacted by the NNIFG. Awoleye last spoke to his father in October 2010. At that time, Awoleye’s father said he would send documents to Awoleye about the attacks. In 2011, Awoleye learned about his father’s death through a Nigerian friend who had seen the newspaper article that Awoleye had provided to the IJ. Awoleye said his parents were killed at the same time, but agreed he did not know anything about their killings other than what he had read in the newspaper. Awoleye continued to believe that someone would harm him if he returned to Nigeria. The IJ noted that Awoleye’s father was no longer preaching and asked why the NNIFG would still be interested in Awoleye. Awoleye indicated he was afraid because he had been identified as a target in one of the NNIFG’s letters. With respect to the earlier attack on his mother, Awoleye testified that, in 2010, she was “dragged out” and the attackers shot her “when the fire burn[ed] out.” Awoleye’s father told him that the attackers shot his mother with a bow and arrow. When the IJ asked Awoleye about inconsistencies in his asylum application, Awoleye responded that his previous attorney had typed his application, and he had merely signed the statement afterward. Awoleye said that he did not see the 11 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 12 of 29 application until he got to court. The IJ noted that Awoleye had signed his application on October 1, 2010, before the first removal hearing, which was inconsistent with Awoleye’s current testimony. Awoleye said that he wrote the statement down for his attorneys, who typed up the statement and sent him only the last page to sign. Later, however, Awoleye admitted he received the entire asylum application from his lawyers, but his lawyers told him he only needed to print and sign the last page, and he did not look at the entire document before signing it. The IJ also asked Awoleye about his marriage fraud conviction. Awoleye testified that he had pled guilty to marriage fraud in 2012, but insisted he was not guilty and had pled guilty because he was in deportation proceedings and was afraid that he would never get to see his children again. Awoleye stated that his marriage to Kemp was legitimate, but he was living with and had children with his present wife during the marriage to Kemp. With respect to his ability to relocate in Nigeria, Awoleye said he did not know if anything had happened to his remaining siblings who still lived in Nigeria. Awoleye stated he could not move to southern Nigeria because he did not know any of his extended family. He did not think that it was safe for him to return even to southern Nigeria because the government was unable to curb the ongoing violence. 12 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 13 of 29 G. IJ’s Decision The IJ denied Awoleye’s application, again finding that Awoleye had not met his burden of presenting credible and consistent testimony and documents in support. The IJ stressed Awoleye’s inconsistent hearing testimony about which siblings were killed and Awoleye’s inability to state whether he was older or younger than his siblings. [Id.] The IJ indicated that he had observed Awoleye’s demeanor and listened to Awoleye’s explanations for discrepancies and had the “distinct impression” that Awoleye “was not being accurate or truthful . . . .” The IJ further found that the discrepancies between Awoleye’s application and his testimony more likely were caused by Awoleye’s changed testimony than by ineffective assistance of counsel. The IJ noted that Awoleye testified he had signed his sworn asylum statement the day of his first removal hearing, but the date on the statement indicated he had in fact signed it on a prior date. When confronted with this evidence, Awoleye first changed his testimony to say that he had been sent only the last page to sign, and then testified that he had been sent the entire application, but had signed the last page without reading it. Thus, the IJ gave little credence to Awoleye’s claim that he had not read the entire application. Overall, the IJ found the record was “replete with inconsistencies.” The IJ cited as examples Awoleye’s application, which stated Awoleye’s mother was shot, while Awoleye testified she was attacked with a bow and arrows, and 13 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 14 of 29 Awoleye’s initial statement, which listed two sisters alive in Nigeria, when Awoleye testified that he did not know his sisters’ whereabouts. Although Awoleye attempted to “explain away” inconsistencies by saying he was tired or blaming the problem on his attorney, the IJ found that Awoleye was “not being candid with the Court” and his explanations were unconvincing Additionally, Awoleye’s conviction for marriage fraud raised serious issues as to his credibility. The IJ denied all of Awoleye’s applications for relief because he had failed to present a credible and consistent account of his claim. Alternatively, the IJ stated that he would deny Awoleye’s future persecution claim on the merits. The IJ found that Awoleye’s claim was based on his family relationship, rather than on anything Awoleye had done. That is, the Islamic extremists in Nigeria had targeted Awoleye because his father would not stop preaching. Nothing in the record suggested that the extremists had any continuing interest in Awoleye now that his father was no longer preaching. Awoleye had not had contact with the extremists, and there was no indication that his remaining siblings in Nigeria had come to any harm or that there were any more threats after their father’s death in 2011. The IJ also noted that Awoleye had not shown that he could not live in the southern part of Nigeria without being exposed to the harm he feared. 14 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 15 of 29 Because Awoleye had not met the lower burden of proof with respect to asylum, the IJ also denied Awoleye’s application for withholding of removal on the merits. The IJ further denied CAT relief because Awoleye failed to establish that anyone associated with the government or acting with the government’s acquiescence or consent would seek to torture him. Finally, the IJ explained that Awoleye’s marriage fraud conviction demonstrated that he did not deserve the favorable exercise of discretion. Thus, to the extent Awoleye was otherwise eligible for asylum, the IJ alternatively denied his asylum request as a matter of discretion. H. BIA Appeal Awoleye appealed to the BIA, challenging the IJ’s credibility finding and merits rulings. Awoleye also argued that the IJ was biased against him and had not given proper consideration to his new evidence on remand. With respect to the discretionary denial of asylum, Awoleye contended that he had pled guilty on the bad advice of his defense attorney, who should have moved to dismiss the indictment based on the statute of limitations. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s denial of Awoleye’s applications. In relevant part, the BIA noted the IJ’s explicit credibility finding against Awoleye based on: (1) inconsistencies regarding which of Awoleye’s siblings were killed in Nigeria; (2) changes in Awoleye’s testimony regarding when he had signed and reviewed 15 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 16 of 29 his asylum application; and (3) inconsistencies surrounding Awoleye’s testimony about when he learned that his siblings were killed. The BIA concluded that the IJ’s credibility finding was not clearly erroneous. The BIA highlighted that Awoleye’s asylum application identified his deceased siblings as Oluwafunmilayo, Oluwatofunmi, Oluwashola, and Oluwafemi, but at the removal hearing he had testified that his deceased siblings’ first names were “Oluwashole,” “Oluwasin,” “Oluwafumilayo,” and “Abosede.” When the IJ questioned Awoleye about this discrepancy, he changed his testimony and explained that he was tired, but both his explanation before the IJ and his explanation on appeal—that his siblings’ names were easy to confuse—were unconvincing. Furthermore, Awoleye only corrected the names of his deceased siblings after the IJ pointed out the discrepancy. The BIA also stressed that, even assuming Awoleye might not know the age of each of his siblings, it was reasonable to expect Awoleye to know his birth order within his family. With respect to Awoleye’s siblings, the IJ “had the distinct impression that the respondent was not being accurate and truthful with the Court,” and the BIA determined that this observation of demeanor was entitled to deference. The BIA also affirmed the IJ’s adverse credibility findings as to whether the inconsistencies in Awoleye’s asylum application were attributable to errors by his counsel, when Awoleye learned of his siblings’ deaths, and when he had last 16 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 17 of 29 spoken with his father, stressing the IJ’s observations of demeanor and Awoleye’s changing testimony. The BIA concluded that, under the totality of the circumstances, Awoleye failed to credibly establish his eligibility for asylum. The BIA also affirmed the IJ’s alternative holding that Awoleye did not show a well-founded fear of future persecution. The BIA pointed out that, according to Awoleye, his siblings were killed to put pressure on his father, but his father was now dead. Awoleye failed to provide sufficient evidence that the NNIFG would be interested in harming Awoleye “4 years after killing his siblings, and 3 years after killing his father.” The BIA recognized Nigeria’s current problems with Boko Haram, but concluded that Awoleye failed to demonstrate that Boko Haram would be interested in him if he returned to the country. Similarly, Awoleye failed to provide evidence showing that he could not relocate from northern to southern Nigeria, as his only evidence on this point was that he did not know his family in southern Nigeria. The BIA noted that the U.S. Department of State’s 2012 Human Rights Report for Nigeria indicated that many Christians were relocating to southern Nigeria. The BIA affirmed the discretionary denial of asylum. The BIA noted that Awoleye argued only that his marriage fraud conviction was invalid, and did not “otherwise [make] a meaningful argument regarding why the alternative 17 Case: 14-13124 Date Filed: 05/22/2015 Page: 18 of 29 discretionary denial was incorrect.” The BIA explained that it did not have jurisdiction to determine the validity of Awoleye’s underlying conviction. The BIA also rejected Awoleye’s claims that the IJ was biased against him. The BIA determined that Awoleye had not met his burden of proof with regard to asylum, and he therefore also failed to meet his higher burden of proof for withholding of removal. Finally, the BIA found that Awoleye had not demonstrated that it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if returned to Nigeria, and, thus, he was not entitled to CAT relief.