Renlong Qiu v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: A087-433-005 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999061074].. [12-2168]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-2168

RENLONG QIU,
Petitioner,
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General,
Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals.

Submitted:

February 15, 2013

Decided:

March 12, 2013

Before DAVIS, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Gang Zhou, New York, New York, for Petitioner.
Stuart F.
Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Douglas E.
Ginsburg,
Assistant
Director,
Zoe
J.
Heller,
Office
of
Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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Qiu,

and

PER CURIAM:
Renlong

a

native

citizen

of

the

People’s

Republic of China, petitions for review of an order of the Board
of Immigration Appeals (“Board”), dismissing his appeal from the
immigration judge’s order denying his applications for asylum,
withholding

of

removal

and

withholding

under

the

Convention

Against Torture (“CAT”) and denying his motion to remand.

We

deny the petition for review. *
The current state of the law regarding this court’s
review of final orders denying asylum, withholding of removal
and relief under the CAT was summarized in Djadjou v. Holder,
662 F.3d 265, 272-74 (4th Cir. 2011).
the

Immigration

Attorney

and

General

the

Naturalization

Act

discretionary

aliens who qualify as refugees.

According to the court,
(“INA”)

power

to

vests

grant

Id. at 272.

in

asylum

the
to

A refugee is

someone “who is unable or unwilling to return to” his native
country

“because

of

persecution

or

a

well-founded

fear

of

persecution on account of . . . political opinion” or other
protected grounds.

8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) (2006).

*

Asylum

Qiu does not challenge the denial of relief under the CAT.
He has therefore waived review of this claim.
See Ngarurih v.
Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 182, 189 n.7 (4th Cir. 2004) (finding that
failure to raise a challenge in an opening brief results in
abandonment of that challenge); Edwards v. City of Goldsboro,
178 F.3d 231, 241 n.6 (4th Cir. 1999) (same).

2

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applicants

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have

the

burden

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of

proving

that

they

definition of a refugee to qualify for relief.
F.3d at 272.

satisfy

the

Djadjou, 662

They may satisfy this burden by showing that they

were subjected to past persecution or that they have a well
founded fear of persecution on account of a protected ground
such as religion.

See 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(1) (2012).

If the

applicant establishes past persecution, he has the benefit of a
rebuttable presumption of a well founded fear of persecution.
Djadjou, 662 F.3d at 272.
Aliens face a heightened burden of proof to qualify
for withholding of removal to a particular country under the
INA.

They

must

show

a

clear

probability

of

persecution

on

account of a protected ground.

If they meet this heightened

burden,

is

withholding

applicants

cannot

of

removal

demonstrate

mandatory.

asylum

However,

eligibility,

if

their

applications for withholding of removal will necessarily fail as
well.

Djadjou, 662 F.3d at 272-73.
When the Board adopts the immigration judge’s decision

and includes its own reasons for affirming, this court reviews
both decisions.

Djadjou, 662 F.3d at 273.

This court will

uphold the Board’s decision unless it is manifestly contrary to
the law and an abuse of discretion.
the

agency’s

findings

are

findings

is

affirmed

if

narrow

The standard of review of
and

supported
3

by

deferential.

Factual

substantial

evidence.

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Substantial

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evidence

exists

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to

support

a

finding

unless

the

evidence was such that any reasonable adjudicator would have
been compelled to conclude to the contrary.

Id.

Qiu claims that despite the finding that he testified
credibly,

neither

appropriate
evidence.

the

weight

immigration

to

his

judge

testimony

nor

or

the

his

Board

gave

corroborating

He claims that it was implicit in the immigration

judge’s findings that he was not credible.

We conclude that

there is no support for Qiu’s claim that his evidence was not
considered as if he testified credibly.
We

have

reviewed

the

evidence

and

conclude

that

substantial evidence supports the finding that Qiu did not show
that he suffered past persecution.

Persecution is an “extreme

concept” and may include actions less severe than threats to
life or freedom but must rise above mere harassment.
Li v. Gonzales, 405 F.3d 171, 177 (4th Cir. 2005).

Qiao Hua
“A key

difference between persecution and less-severe mistreatment is
that the former is ‘systematic’ while the latter consists of
isolated incidents.”
Cir. 2009).

Baharon v. Holder, 588 F.3d 228, 232 (4th

The Board is instructed to look at all incidents in

the aggregate, including violence or threats to family members,
to determine if there is past persecution, rather than looking
at

each

incident

in

isolation.

4

Id.

Substantial

evidence

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supports the finding that the incidents described by Qiu do not
rise to the level of persecution.
We further conclude that substantial evidence supports
the finding that Qiu failed to show he had a well founded fear
of persecution.

The well founded fear standard contains both a

subjective and an objective component.

The objective element

requires a showing of specific, concrete facts that would lead a
reasonable

person

Gandziami-Mickhou
2006).

“The

presentation

in

like

v.

Gonzales,

to

fear

candid,

445

F.3d

351,

component

subjective
of

circumstances

can

be

credible,

and

persecution.

353

met

(4th

Cir.

through

sincere

the

testimony

demonstrating a genuine fear of persecution . . . . [It] must
have

some

basis

in

the

reality

of

the

circumstances

and

be

validated with specific, concrete facts . . . and it cannot be
mere irrational apprehension.”

Qiao Hua Li, 405 F.3d at 176

(internal

citations

reviewed
compel

a

quotation
the

marks

evidence

finding

that

would fear persecution.

and

and

conclude

reasonable

that
persons

omitted).
the

record

in

Qiu’s

We

have

does

not

situation

Because substantial evidence supports

the finding the Qiu was not eligible for asylum, he did not
establish eligibility for withholding of removal.

Djadjou, 662

F.3d at 272.
We further conclude that the Board did not abuse its
discretion in denying Qiu’s motion to remand.
5

See Hussain v.

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Gonzales,

477

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F.3d

153,

155

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(4th

Cir.

2007).

Substantial

evidence supports the finding that Qiu failed to show that his
new evidence would likely change the result.

See Matter of

Coelho, 20 I. & N. Dec. 464, 473 (B.I.A. 1992).
Accordingly,
dispense

with

contentions

are

oral

we

deny

argument

adequately

the

petition

because

presented

in

the
the

for
facts

review.

We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DENIED

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