Opinion ID: 4363669
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pattern-or-Practice Claim

Text: To establish a well-founded fear of future persecution, an asylum applicant must show that there is a reasonable possibility he will suffer persecution on account of a protected ground—here membership in a particular social group—if he returns to his country. Mehmeti v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 572 F.3d 1196, 1200 (11th Cir. 2009). Generally, an asylum applicant must present “specific, detailed facts showing a good reason to fear that he or she will be singled out for persecution.” Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 257 F.3d 1262, 1287 (11th Cir. 2001) (quotation marks omitted). However, an applicant need not establish a reasonable possibility that he will be singled out for persecution “if the applicant instead proves that he is a 7 The government cites as persuasive authority other circuits that have concluded that a petitioner’s improper fact-finding claim must be raised in a motion for reconsideration to be administratively exhausted. We, however, are bound by Indrawati’s explicit jurisdictional holding. See Horowitch v. Diamond Aircraft Indus., Inc., 645 F.3d 1254, 1258 (11th Cir. 2011) (“Under the prior panel precedent rule, we are bound by earlier panel holdings unless and until they are overruled en banc or by the Supreme Court.”); see also In re Bradford, 830 F.3d 1273, 1278 (11th Cir. 2016) (explaining that we are bound by a prior panel’s explicit jurisdictional holding). 16 Case: 18-11910 Date Filed: 01/31/2019 Page: 17 of 20 member of, or is identified with, a group that is subjected to a ‘pattern or practice’ of persecution in his country of nationality.” Kazemzadeh v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 577 F.3d 1341, 1352 (11th Cir. 2009); see also 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.13(b)(2)(iii), 208.16(b)(2). The BIA has stated that persecution of a particular social group must be “systemic or pervasive” to amount to a “pattern or practice.” See In re A-M-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 737, 741 (BIA 2005) (quotation marks omitted).8 As the Seventh Circuit has explained, this “standard is high because once the court finds that a group was subject to a pattern or practice of persecution, every member of the group is eligible for [immigration relief].” Ahmed v. Gonzales, 467 F.3d 669, 675 (7th Cir. 2006). The BIA must consider all relevant evidence but must “not engage in factfinding in the course of deciding appeals.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)(3)(iv). The BIA is limited to clear error review of the facts determined by the IJ and cannot review the evidence de novo. Id. § 1003.1(d)(3)(i). The BIA, however, “may review questions of law, discretion, and judgment and all other issues in appeals from decisions of immigration judges de novo.” Id. § 1003.1(d)(3)(ii). A future 8 Because Congress had not defined what constitutes a pattern or practice of persecution, we defer to the BIA’s reasonable definition of this term. See Castillo-Arias v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 446 F.3d 1190, 1196 (11th Cir. 2006) (applying Chevron deference to the BIA’s definition of what constitutes a “particular social group”). 17 Case: 18-11910 Date Filed: 01/31/2019 Page: 18 of 20 persecution claim presents a mixed question of law and fact, with the fact question being what harm is likely to happen if the applicant is returned to his country and the legal question being whether that predicted harm “meet[s] the legal standard for a well-founded fear of persecution.” Zhu v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 703 F.3d 1303, 1312 (11th Cir. 2013). The BIA may not find the facts pertaining to the wellfounded fear determination or review de novo those facts found by the IJ. Id. at 1311-14. The BIA can reweigh evidence before the IJ but only if it is “through the prism of clear error.” Id. at 1315. Here, the BIA did not engage in impermissible factfinding in reviewing Ullah’s pattern-or-practice argument. The BIA’s final decision correctly stated that the standard of review for the IJ’s fact findings was clear error and later explicitly stated that it found “no clear error” as to the IJ’s fact finding that Ullah did not have a well-founded fear of future persecution based on his status as a former interpreter. The BIA addressed Ullah’s argument that the IJ “did not consider his claim of pattern or practice of persecution” and explained that Ullah had not pointed to any specific evidence that would meet the demanding “sufficiently systemic and widespread” standard for a pattern-or-practice claim. See Kazemzadeh, 577 F.3d at 1351 (stating that the agency is not required to address every argument or piece of evidence proffered by the petitioner). In support, the BIA noted that Ullah’s country conditions evidence (which the IJ 18 Case: 18-11910 Date Filed: 01/31/2019 Page: 19 of 20 referenced in his decision) showed only general fighting between U.S. forces and insurgent groups and provided only “some evidence” that Afghans who work for U.S. forces were harmed and did not provide sufficient evidence of harm to former interpreters to suggest a viable pattern-or-practice claim. Moreover, the BIA did not reject any of the IJ’s fact findings, did not find any facts in the first instance, and did not reference any evidence upon which the IJ did not also rely in making the ultimate determination that Ullah did not demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in Afghanistan. For instance, the IJ noted that Ullah introduced evidence that Afghanistan was in a state of unrest “at the hands of” the Taliban and other insurgent groups but that the country reports were vague as to the danger to Ullah as a government supporter and former linguist. In other words, the facts on which the BIA relied were already in the record and were mentioned by the IJ in his decision. Having accepted the IJ’s assessment of the evidence under the proper clear-error standard, the BIA merely elaborated upon why Ullah’s country conditions evidence was not sufficient to meet the demanding standard for a pattern-or-practice persecution claim. Ullah’s reliance on Zhu is misplaced. In Zhu, the BIA explicitly stated that its review was de novo and reversed the IJ’s finding that there was a likelihood that the applicant would be sterilized upon her return to China. See Zhu, 703 F.3d at 1314-16. Here, in contrast, the BIA said it was applying a clear-error standard to 19 Case: 18-11910 Date Filed: 01/31/2019 Page: 20 of 20 review the IJ’s finding that Ullah did not have a well-founded fear of persecution, and the BIA cited facts from the record to affirm the IJ’s decision not to address explicitly Ullah’s pattern-or-practice claim. In other words, the BIA’s review of the pattern-or-practice evidence was not de novo, but rather “through the prism of clear error.” See id. at 1315 (emphasis omitted).