Brahimi v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

266 F. App'x 80
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit·Decided February 25, 2008·No. No. 07-1990-ag·Published

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Petitioner Driton Brahimi, a native of Yugoslavia who was ordered removed to Serbia-Montenegro, seeks review of a April 18, 2007 order of the BIA affirming the October 19, 2005 decision of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Barbara A. Nelson denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In Re Driton Brahimi, No. A98 477 621 (B.I.A. Apr. 18, 2007), aff'g No. A98 477 621 (Immig. Ct. New York City, Oct. 19, 2005). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of the case.

When the BIA adopts the decision of the IJ and supplements the IJ’s decision, we review the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA. See Yan Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir.2005). We review the agency’s factual findings, including adverse credibility determinations, under the substantial evidence standard, treating them as “conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see Zhou Yun Zhang v. INS, 386 F.3d 66, 73 & n. 7 (2d Cir.2004).

I. Asylum

Title 8, Section 1158(a)(3) of the United States Code provides that no court shall have jurisdiction to review the agency’s finding that an asylum application was untimely under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B), or its finding of neither changed nor extraordinary circumstances excusing the untimeliness under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D).

We lack jurisdiction to review the denial of the asylum application in the present case because Brahimi’s only challenges are to factual findings. These challenges are “just the kind of quarrels with fact-finding determinations and with exercises of discretion that courts continue to have no jurisdiction to review, notwithstanding the REAL ID Act’s restoration of jurisdiction over constitutional claims and questions of law.” Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 471 F.3d 315, 330 (2d Cir.2006). Accordingly, we dismiss Brahimi’s petition to the extent that it challenges the denial of his asylum claim.

II. Withholding of Removal

Eligibility for withholding of removal and relief under the CAT are not subject to the one-year bar and must be considered regardless of the timeliness of the initial asylum request. See Xiao Ji Chen, 471 F.3d at 332, 340.

A. Exhaustion

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1), this Court “may review a final order of removal only if ... the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies available to the alien as of right.” However, if the BIA addresses issues not raised by a petitioner, those issues are considered exhausted and may be reviewed by this Court. See Xian Tuan Ye v. DHS, 446 F.3d 289, 296-97 (2d Cir.2006). Here, despite Brahimi’s failure to specifically mention his withholding of removal claim in his brief to the BIA, his failure to exhaust is excused because the BIA expressly incorporated the IJ’s decision into its own by reference, and the IJ’s explicit discussion of withholding of removal is thus part of the BIA’s decision. See Waldron v. INS, 17 F.3d 511, 515 n. 7 (2d Cir.1994).

[83]*83B. Waiver

Issues not sufficiently argued in the briefs are considered waived and normally will not be addressed on appeal in the absence of manifest injustice. Chapman v. ChoiceCare Long Island Term Disability Plan, 288 F.3d 506, 514 (2d Cir.2002). As the Government correctly points out, Brahimi fails to specifically challenge the agency’s denial of withholding of removal in his opening brief to this Court. However, he challenges the agency’s finding that he did not suffer past persecution, and the agency rested its denial of withholding of removal on this finding. Notwithstanding Brahimi’s failure to mention withholding of removal in his brief, we will consider this claim because manifest injustice would otherwise result for the reasons stated below.

C. Severity of Harms

To constitute persecution, the harm must be sufficiently severe, rising above “mere harassment.” Ivanishvili v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 433 F.3d 332, 341 (2d Cir.2006). The difference between harassment and persecution is “necessarily one of degree that must be decided on a case-by-case basis.” Ivanishvili, 433 F.3d at 341.

In this case, the IJ misread the record and failed to consider (at least explicitly) an act of alleged persecution in the analysis of past persecution. In explaining why the harms experienced by Brahimi were mere harassment, the IJ stated that Brahimi’s testimony about the incidents that occurred before NATO’s intervention in Kosovo consisted only of detentions and questioning; but in fact Brahimi had also testified to beatings. Further, the IJ did not explicitly evaluate whether the incident in which Serbian police beat Brahimi and his family and evicted them from their home constituted persecution on account of an enumerated ground, either standing alone or in aggregate with the other harms alleged by Brahimi.

The BIA did not separately analyze this testimony because it adopted and affirmed the IJ’s decision. Although it amplified the IJ’s decision by stating that the harms experienced by Brahimi did not in the aggregate amount to persecution, our review is frustrated because it is unclear whether the BIA considered the beating of Brahimi and his family in reaching this conclusion. Where the agency neither considers substantia] testimony regarding alleged persecution on the basis of an enumerated ground nor explicitly finds such testimony incredible, we are not in a position to affirm a finding that the treatment suffered was harassment rather than persecution. See Ivanishvili 433 F.3d at 341-42; see also Manzur v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Sec., 494 F.3d 281, 290 (2d Cir.2007) (mere recitation that agency considered experiences in the aggregate is insufficient without reasoning in the decision reflecting that the agency did so).

D. Adverse Credibility

The IJ’s adverse credibility finding, which applied only to the harms Brahimi alleged to have occurred after NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, was based on flawed grounds.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Brahimi v. Immigration & Naturalization Service, 266 F. App'x 80 (2d Cir. 2008).

266 F. App'x 80 (Brahimi v. Immigration & Naturalization Service) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related