Opinion ID: 164418
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: IJ’s Factfinding

Text: “Where . . . the BIA summarily affirms or adopts an immigration judge’s decision, this court reviews the judge’s analysis as if it were the BIA’s.” Tsevegmid, 336 F.3d at 1235. “We review the IJ’s resolution of the initial refugee status question under a substantial evidence standard.” Yuk, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 781 at . In other words, the IJ’s adverse asylum decision “must be upheld if supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence on the record as a whole.” Krastev, 292 F.3d at 1275. The decision should be reversed only when “a reasonable factfinder would have to conclude that the requisite fear -7- of persecution existed.” Woldemeskel v. INS, 257 F.3d 1185, 1189 (10th Cir. 2001) (quoting INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992)). The IJ was not persuaded that Petitioner faced an actual threat of persecution if she returned to Uganda. He pointed out that (1) she had not been politically active; (2) her encounter with the rebels was during a legitimate scientific research trip; (3) she was not harmed by the interrogators whom she believed to be government agents; (4) she left the region and the country without encountering any attempts to restrain her; (5) her family was not subsequently contacted by the government; (6) nothing connected the five boys reported killed in Fort Portal to the two field assistants; and (7) Petitioner provided no direct evidence of the arrest and disappearance of her two colleagues, even though, given the many human-rights organizations with a presence in Uganda (of which Petitioner submitted evidence), there would be newspaper and international reports as to what occurred “if two university scholars of good standing who were apolitical were taken into Government custody, and then were not heard from since.” R. at 48. The IJ’s analysis of the record is a reasonable one. A reasonable factfinder would not be compelled to find that Petitioner’s fear of persecution was objectively justified. We affirm the denial of Petitioner’s asylum and withholding-of-removal claims. -8-