Court Opinion

ID: 989670
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-03 23:10:17.578406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:17.193295
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

YASSER HASSAN ALI ANABTAWI,
Petitioner,

v.
                                                                      No. 93-2565
U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION
SERVICE,
Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order
of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(A-71-793-740)

Submitted: June 11, 1996

Decided: June 27, 1996

Before WILLIAMS, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Denyse Sabagh, Douglas E. Ginsburg, METZGER, HOLLIS, GOR-
DON & MORTIMER, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Frank W.
Hunger, Assistant Attorney General, Robert Kendall, Jr., Assistant
Director, Marion E. Guyton, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil
Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Wash-
ington, D.C., for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Yasser Hassan Ali Anabtawi challenges the decision of the Board
of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the immigration judge's
("IJ") order denying his request for a withholding of deportation
under the Immigration and Naturalization Act ("INA"). Because
Anabtawi's arguments were rejected by this court's recent en banc
decision in Kofa v. INS, 60 F.3d 1084 (4th Cir. 1995), we deny this
petition for review.

Anabtawi, a stateless Palestinian born in a refugee camp in Leba-
non, lived in Algeria from 1971 to 1982. Anabtawi was admitted to
the United States in 1986 as a dependent of a foreign government
official. In 1987, this status terminated. On July 26, 1991, Anabtawi
was convicted in Virginia for distributing cocaine, and he received a
sentence of five years, with two and one-half years suspended.

During the deportation proceedings, Anabtawi requested asylum
and withholding from deportation. The IJ denied these requests as not
available to an alien convicted of an "aggravated felony" as defined
in 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(43) (West Supp. 1996), and ordered Anab-
tawi deported to Algeria. Anabtawi appealed to the BIA. The BIA
affirmed the IJ's decision and held that Anabtawi is statutorily pre-
cluded from applying for asylum or withholding of deportation.

In his petition for review filed in this court, Anabtawi contends
only that the BIA incorrectly construed the INA to automatically pre-
clude him, because of his aggravated felony conviction, from apply-
ing for withholding of deportation. He contends that this
interpretation is contrary to the plain language of the statute, contrary
to the legislative intent, violates the United States' treaty obligations,
and violates due process by denying him an individual determination
on the issue of danger to the community of the United States.

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Withholding of deportation is generally mandatory"if the Attorney
General determines that [an] alien's life or freedom would be threat-
ened . . . on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or political opinion." 8 U.S.C.A. § 1253(h)(1)
(West Supp. 1996). However, withholding of deportation is not per-
mitted if the Attorney General determines that "the alien, having been
convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, consti-
tutes a danger to the community of the United States." 8 U.S.C.A.
§ 1253(h)(2)(B) (West Supp. 1996). "[A]n alien who has been con-
victed of an aggravated felony shall be considered to have committed
a particularly serious crime." 8 U.S.C.A. § 1253(h)(2) (West Supp.
1996).

This court has upheld the BIA's interpretation of§ 1253(h)(2)(B)
to mean that conviction of a particularly serious crime necessarily
means the alien is a danger to the community of the United States.
Kofa v. INS, 60 F.3d 1084, 1088 (4th Cir. 1995) (en banc). Because
Anabtawi has been convicted of distributing cocaine, he is an aggra-
vated felon under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a)(43)(B) (West Supp. 1996). As
an alien convicted of an aggravated felony, he is considered to have
committed a particularly serious crime. 8 U.S.C.A.§ 1253(h)(2).

The issue in this case--whether, under the INA, an alien convicted
of an aggravated felony is per se a "danger to the community" and
therefore automatically ineligible for withholding from deportation--
was discussed in detail and resolved in the affirmative by our recent
decision in Kofa v. INS.* In that case, decided after this appeal was
filed, we held that 8 U.S.C.A. § 1253(h)(2)(B), which authorizes
withholding from deportation, does not require a separate determina-
tion of dangerousness to the community in the case of an aggravated
felon. Kofa, 60 F.3d at 1088. Rather, an alien convicted of an aggra-
vated felony presents per se a "danger to the community," and,
accordingly, is ineligible for withholding. Id. Alternatively, the court
held that, even if the language of the statute is ambiguous, the BIA's
interpretation is reasonable and therefore entitled to deference under
_________________________________________________________________
*By order dated January 26, 1994, we placed this case in abeyance
pending our en banc decision in the consolidated cases of Kofa v. INS,
No. 92-1246, and Moreno v. INS, No. 92-2522. On July 27, 1995, the
court issued its decision in those two cases.

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the principles of construction established by the Supreme Court in
Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467
U.S. 837, 844 (1984). Kofa, 60 F.3d at 1089.

Our decision in Kofa leaves nothing to resolve in this case. Because
we have held that an alien convicted of an aggravated felony is not
entitled to an individual determination of dangerousness, but poses
per se a danger to the community and therefore is ineligible for with-
holding from deportation, we uphold the BIA decision denying Anab-
tawi relief from deportation. We further note that by failing to raise
the issue during his appeal to the BIA, Anabtawi waived his argument
that the BIA's interpretation of the statute, as adopted by the Fourth
Circuit, violates the United States' treaty obligations under the Con-
vention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. See Gandarillas-Zambrana v. Board of
Immigration Appeals, 44 F.3d 1251, 1255 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, ___
U.S. ___, 64 U.S.L.W. 3203 (U.S. Oct. 2, 1995) (No. 94-1720);
Farrokhi v. INS, 900 F.2d 697, 700 (4th Cir. 1990). The petition for
review is therefore denied. We dispense with oral argument because
the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materi-
als before the court and argument would not aid the decisional pro-
cess.

PETITION DENIED

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