Adam v. Lynch

609 F. App'x 536
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMay 4, 2015
Docket14-9577
StatusUnpublished

This text of 609 F. App'x 536 (Adam v. Lynch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adam v. Lynch, 609 F. App'x 536 (10th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT **

BOBBY R. BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Omar Mohamed Adam claims to be a native and citizen of Ethiopia, although he entered this country from Kenya using a Kenyan passport identifying him as Ibrahim Adan Muhumed. He petitions for review of an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) decision denying his application for asylum. 1 Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252, we deny the petition.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Mr. Adam was granted a visa to enter the United States from Kenya. In his visa application, he identified himself as Ibra-him Adan Muhumed, a native and citizen of Kenya. He entered the United States in July 2008. A few months later, in November 2008, he applied for asylum, claiming to be Omar Mohamed Adam, a native and citizen of Ethiopia.

In his asylum application, Mr. Adam stated that he lived in Ethiopia until 2007. He claimed that he was from the Ogaden region and was ethnic Somali. He further stated that he was a member of the Oga-den National Liberation Front (ONLF). He alleged that he and his family members were persecuted by the Ethiopian government on account of their membership in the Ogaden clan and because they were suspected of supporting the ONLF. Mr. Adam claimed that Ethiopian soldiers attacked him at his house in April 2005, leaving him with scars on his abdomen and right arm from the wounds he suffered during the attack. He also alleged that his mother and brother were killed in an Ethiopian jail in 2006. He explained that he moved to Kenya in 2007 with his wife and son and then bought a fake passport there in order to travel to the United States. When he came to the United States, his wife and son remained in Kenya.

An asylum officer interviewed petitioner in connection with his application. During the interview, Mr. Adam stated that Ethiopian soldiers raped his wife during the attack at his home.

After the interview, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) commenced removal proceedings against Mr. Adam, charging him with being removable as an alien who was inadmissible at the time of *538 his entry into the United States. Mr. Adam conceded his removability as charged. He sought relief from removal in the form of asylum, restriction on removal, and CAT protection.

Mr. Adam subsequently submitted two documents to support his claim that he was an Ethiopian citizen — a “Birth Certificate” and an “Identification Card.” Admin. R. at 344-51. He asserted that both documents were issued by the Ethiopian government. Both documents listed Mr. Adam’s birthdate as May 5, 1980, which was inconsistent with the birthdate listed on his asylum application of May 13, 1980. Both documents indicated that they were issued in 1999.

At the final hearing on his asylum application, Mr. Adam testified that he was attacked by Ethiopian soldiers at his house in 2005 and they stabbed him in the stomach and hand. Mr. Adam also testified that his wife was not harmed during that attack. He testified that he did not remember telling the asylum officer that his wife had been raped in the 2005 attack and that he didn’t know exactly what he had said. Mr. Adam further testified that he was never a member of the ONLF.

He was also asked about the difference in his stated birthdate and the birthdates listed on his Identification Card and Birth Certificate. In response, he testified that the Ethiopian government made a mistake. He also testified that he thought the Identification Card was issued in 2010 because that was when he requested his father to get it for him. He said that the government made a mistake when it noted the document was issued in 1999.

At the end of the hearing, the IJ rendered an oral decision. The IJ concluded that Mr. Adam did not testify credibly in support of his asylum application and therefore he had not established his eligibility for relief. In particular, the IJ noted that Mr. Adam’s documents that purported to establish his Ethiopian citizenship appeared to be partially fabricated. Although Mr. Adam produced a witness to corroborate his identity, the witness had not seen Mr. Adam since he was a toddler. The IJ concluded that the witness’s prior experience with Mr. Adam was not sufficient to make a reliable identification thirty years later. The IJ further noted inconsistencies between Mr. Adam’s asylum application, his interview with the asylum officer, and his testimony at the hearing involving whether he was a member of the ONLF and whether his wife was raped during the alleged altercation in 2005.

The BIA upheld the IJ’s adverse credibility finding and dismissed the appeal. Mr. Adam now seeks review of the BIA’s decision.

II. Discussion

“We review the BIA’s legal determinations de novo and its findings of fact for substantial evidence.” Dallakoti v. Holder, 619 F.3d 1264, 1267 (10th Cir.2010). The BIA’s decision is the final order under review, but “when seeking to understand the grounds provided by the BIA, we are not precluded from consulting the IJ’s more complete explanation of those same grounds.” Uanreroro v. Gonzales, 443 F.3d 1197, 1204 (10th Cir.2006). The agency’s “administrative findings of fact are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B). “[Credibility determinations, like other findings of fact, are subject to the substantial evidence test.” Elzour v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 1143, 1150 (10th Cir.2004). “We may not weigh the evidence, and we will not question the immigration judge’s or BIA’s credibility determinations as long as they are substantially *539 reasonable.” Woldemeskel v. INS, 257 F.3d 1185, 1192 (10th Cir.2001).

An alien bears the burden of proving eligibility for asylum. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(l)(B)(i). An alien’s testimony may be sufficient to sustain his burden of proof, but only if he satisfies the IJ that his testimony “is credible, is persuasive, and refers to specific facts sufficient to demonstrate that [he is eligible for relief].” Id. “Because an alien’s testimony alone may support an application for withholding of removal or asylum, the IJ must give specific, cogent reasons for disbelieving it.” Sviridov v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 722, 727 (10th Cir.2004) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

Mr.

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Related

Sviridov v. Ashcroft
358 F.3d 722 (Tenth Circuit, 2004)
Elzour v. Ashcroft
378 F.3d 1143 (Tenth Circuit, 2004)
Uanreroro v. Ashcroft
443 F.3d 1197 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)
Dallakoti v. Holder
619 F.3d 1264 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
Sumaira Urooj v. Eric Holder, Jr.
734 F.3d 1075 (Ninth Circuit, 2013)
D-R
25 I. & N. Dec. 445 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 2011)

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609 F. App'x 536, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adam-v-lynch-ca10-2015.