Dong v. Attorney General of the United States

375 F. App'x 207
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 31, 2010
DocketNo. 08-4640
StatusPublished

This text of 375 F. App'x 207 (Dong v. Attorney General of the United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dong v. Attorney General of the United States, 375 F. App'x 207 (3d Cir. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner, Dan Dong, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order of removal. For the following reasons, we will deny her petition.

Dong is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China from Fujian Province who has resided unlawfully in the United States since 2000. In March 2006, she married Ming Lin, and the couple had two children, Jason and Bobby Lin. When the Department of Homeland Security later initiated removal proceedings against her, Dong sought asylum and related relief on the ground that, if removed to China, she would be forcibly sterilized because she had violated China’s one-child family planning policy by giving birth to two children in this country.

Following a hearing, the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denied relief, finding that Dong had failed to demonstrate that she had a well-founded fear of persecution under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42) because the evidence did not establish that her fear of being subjected to involuntary sterilization at home was objectively reasonable. See Guo v. Ashcroft, 386 F.3d 556, 563 (3d Cir.2004). In particular, the IJ concluded that Dong had failed to show either that she would be singled out for sterilization or that China has a pattern or practice of sterilizing women who return to the country with two foreign-born children. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(2)(iii)(A). The IJ also denied Dong’s related applications for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture.

Dong appealed to the BIA. In addition to seeking review of the IJ’s ruling, Dong also submitted hundreds of pages of documents to the BIA — most of which she had already submitted to the IJ — and requested in the alternative that the BIA remand the matter for the IJ to address the additional evidence. Upon review, the BIA adopted and affirmed the IJ’s decision, denied the request for a remand, and dismissed the appeal. Dong now petitions for review of the BIA’s order.1

A. Applications for Asylum and Withholding of Removal

Upon review, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the denial of Dong’s application for asylum. To establish eligibility for asylum on the ground that she had a well-founded fear of future persecution, Dong was required to demonstrate that: (1) her fear of persecution is genuine; and (2) “a reasonable person in [her] [209]*209circumstances would fear persecution if returned to the country in question.” Zubeda v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 463, 469 (3d Cir. 2003). To satisfy the second, so-called “objective prong,” Dong had to show either that she would be individually “singled out” for persecution, or that there is a “pattern or practice” of persecution of similarly situated individuals. 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(2)(iii)(A). The agency’s findings on these questions “are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see also INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481, 112 S.Ct. 812,117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992).

First, we agree with the IJ and BIA that Dong faded to establish that she would be singled out for persecution under 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(2)(iii)(A), as the evidence presented did not show that she had ever come into contact with family planning authorities in the past, or that her foreign-born children would necessarily “count” for purposes of China’s family planning policy in the future.2 Although Dong argues on appeal that a document issued by the State Department titled “Tips for Travelers to the People’s Republic of China” clearly demonstrates that the distinction between children born in the United States and those born in China is a “distinction without a difference,” (Br. 10) we disagree. This document states only that children born in the United States to Chinese citizens “are not recognized as U.S. citizens under Chinese nationality law;” it does not discuss how this policy may or may not relate to the nation’s family planning policies. (AR 001225.) Dong also argues that the IJ and BIA “ignored prior precedent” holding that children born in the United States are treated no differently than children born in China. (Br. 11.) Curiously, however, the only authority that Dong cites in support of this proposition is In re J-W-S-, 24 I & N Dec. 185 (BIA 2007), which held just the opposite.

We also agree with the IJ and BIA that the record evidence did not establish that the Chinese government engages in a pattern or practice of sterilizing individuals who return to Fujian Province after giving birth to two children in the United States. As the IJ noted, “[o]n balance, the evidence pointed to a marked decrease in enforcement of the family planning policy through forced abortion and/or sterilization and does not indicate that there is a pattern or practice of sterilizing individuals who return to China after having two children in the United States.” (AR 001226.) Dong now argues that, in reaching this conclusion, the IJ failed to give adequate weight to the following evidence: (1) a [210]*2102005 report by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees; (2) a New York Times article regarding the persecution of an anti-family-planning advocate; and (3) various CNN.com and AsiaNews articles. We have reviewed these documents and cannot say that they compelled a ruling in Dong’s favor; simply stated, none of these documents establishes that Chinese citizens who return to Fujian Province after giving birth to two children in the United States will be forcibly sterilized.3

For these reasons, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of Dong’s claim for asylum. Furthermore, because Dong failed to show that she has a reasonable fear of future persecution under the lower burden of proof required for asylum, the agency correctly concluded that she was necessarily ineligible for withholding of removal. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430-32, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987).

B. Motion to Remand

Dong also argues that the BIA abused its discretion in denying her motion to remand.4 Because there is no express statutory authorization for a motion to remand, the BIA appropriately construed Dong’s request as a motion to reopen. See In re Coelho, 20 I. & N. Dec. 464, 471 (BIA 1992). The BIA denied Dong’s motion because she failed to satisfy the standard for reopening

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Vakker v. Attorney General of the United States
519 F.3d 143 (Third Circuit, 2008)
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549 F.3d 260 (Third Circuit, 2008)
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J-W-S
24 I. & N. Dec. 185 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 2007)
COELHO
20 I. & N. Dec. 464 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
375 F. App'x 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dong-v-attorney-general-of-the-united-states-ca3-2010.