Nadeak v. Attorney General of the United States

460 F. App'x 170
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedFebruary 3, 2012
DocketNo. 11-2997
StatusPublished

This text of 460 F. App'x 170 (Nadeak 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
Nadeak v. Attorney General of the United States, 460 F. App'x 170 (3d Cir. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Sahala Nadeak petitions for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the decision of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying withholding of removal. We will deny the petition for review.

Nadeak, a citizen of Indonesia, was admitted into the United States in April 2001 as a nonimmigrant visitor. In January 2007, the Department of Homeland Security charged him with being removable under section 237(a)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(B), as an alien who remained in the United States for a longer time than permitted.

Nadeak conceded removability but filed an application for withholding of removal. (He also initially applied for asylum and relief under the Convention Against Torture, but then withdrew those applications.) Nadeak claimed that he had been persecuted in Indonesia, and fears future persecution, due to his Christianity.1 In [172]*172his affidavit, which he adopted at his administrative hearing, Nadeak recounted the mistreatment he suffered at the hands of Indonesian Muslims. He claimed that in 1970, when he was a teenager, he was beaten by a group of Muslims. Later, when he participated in chess tournaments, his opponents tried to intimidate him, and at university, he was treated less favorably than Muslim students. Nadeak alleged that the discrimination continued during his adult years — -his coworkers harassed him, he was denied promotions, protestors once rocked his car, and his neighbor threatened him. Nadeak also stated in his affidavit that he feared that his nephew’s wife’s father would harm him if he returned to Indonesia because he had helped his nephew and his wife leave Indonesia; however, he repudiated that claim during his hearing.

The IJ concluded that Nadeak was removable, finding that he failed to meet his burden of proof for withholding of removal. Nadeak appealed to the BIA, which dismissed his appeal. The BIA first affirmed the Id’s conclusion that Nadeak had failed to demonstrate that he had suffered past persecution, finding that the harm he suffered did not rise to the level of persecution. The BIA further agreed with the IJ that Nadeak had failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution. Accordingly, the BIA concluded that the IJ had correctly denied Nadeak’s application for withholding of removal. Nadeak then filed a timely petition for review in this Court.

We have jurisdiction over the BIA’s final order of removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). We review the decision and reasoning of the IJ to the extent that the BIA deferred to or adopted it; otherwise, we consider only the decision of the BIA. See Chavarria v. Gonzalez, 446 F.3d 508, 515 (3d Cir.2006). We must uphold the agency’s factual findings, including its findings as to whether Nadeak has demonstrated past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution, if they are “supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” Kayembe v. Ashcroft, 334 F.3d 231, 234 (3d Cir.2003). We will reverse a finding of fact only if “any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” § 1252(b)(4)(B).

Before considering the merits of Na-deak’s petition, we briefly review the standard for statutory withholding of removal, the only substantive claim in this case. The INA provides that “the Attorney General may not remove an alien to a country if the Attorney General decides that the alien’s life or freedom would be threatened in that country because of the alien’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). This standard is similar to, but more stringent than, the standard for asylum — a withholding applicant must establish a “clear probability” that his life or freedom would be threatened because of an enumerated characteristic. Zubeda v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 463, 469 (3d Cir.2003). If the alien shows that he or she has suffered past persecution, “it shall be presumed that the applicant’s life or freedom would be threatened in the future in the country of removal.” 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(1). An alien who has not suffered past persecution may prevail by showing that, in the country of removal, (1) he or she would be “singled out individually for ... persecution” or (2) “there is a pattern or practice” of persecuting similarly situated individuals. § 1208.16(b)(2).

We discern no error in the BIA’s disposition of this case. As an initial mat[173]*173ter, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Nadeak failed to show that he suffered past persecution. We have previously concluded that isolated attacks that do not require medical care, like the one Nadeak sustained in 1970, are not sufficiently severe to amount to persecution. See Jarbough v. Att’y Gen., 483 F.3d 184, 191 (3d Cir.2007). We have likewise upheld agency determinations that the types of unfulfilled threats and general harassment that Nadeak has alleged here do not amount to persecution. See Li v. Att’y Gen., 400 F.3d 157, 164 (3d Cir.2005). Similarly, given that Nadeak graduated from university and was consistently employed in Indonesia, he cannot show that he suffered from economic persecution. See Ahmed v. Ashcroft, 341 F.3d 214, 218 (3d Cir.2003).

Nadeak argues that the agency improperly overlooked the beating he suffered in 1970 in evaluating whether he had established past persecution. We disagree. The IJ explicitly discussed this incident, and then ruled that, viewing Nadeak’s evidence cumulatively, he had failed to show past persecution. Moreover, while the BIA did not specifically mention this incident in its opinion, it need not “write an exegesis on every contention, but only ... show that it has reviewed the record and grasped the [petitioner’s] claims.” Sevoian v. Ashcroft, 290 F.3d 166, 178 (3d Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). We are satisfied that the BIA fully understood Nadeak’s claim and conclude that, for the reasons discussed above, the record does not compel a decision contrary to the BIA’s.

We likewise conclude that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s ruling that Nadeak failed to show that he would be persecuted in the future if he is removed to Indonesia.

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460 F. App'x 170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nadeak-v-attorney-general-of-the-united-states-ca3-2012.