Lumanauw v. Mukasey , 258 F. App'x 351 ( 2007 )

Not for Publication in West's Federal Reporter
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 07-1308
BABY IRENE LUMANAUW,
Petitioner,
v.
MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL,*
Respondent.
ON PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE
BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS
Before
Lipez and Howard, Circuit Judges,
and Gelpi,** District Judge.
Randall A. Drew and Law Offices of Mona T. Movafaghi, PC on
brief for petitioner.
Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Leslie McKay,
Senior Litigation Counsel, and Angela N. Liang, Trial Attorney, on
brief for respondent.
December 21, 2007
*
Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), Attorney General
Michael B. Mukasey has been substituted for former Attorney General
Alberto R. Gonzáles as the respondent herein.
**
Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation.
Per Curiam. We recently denied a petition for review
brought by Mary Jane Lumanauw, see Lumanauw v. Mukasey, No. 07-1307
(1st Cir. Dec. 7, 2007), a citizen of Indonesia who is the sister
of Baby Irene Lumanauw, the petitioner in this case. Both women
applied for asylum, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1158, and withholding of
removal, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3). Mary Jane's case was
consolidated with Baby Irene's case before the immigration judge
("IJ"), who issued an oral decision rejecting both sisters' claims.
The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the IJ's decision as to
both women.
To qualify for asylum, an applicant must demonstrate that
she has suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of
future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8
U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(1)(A), 1101(a)(42)(A).1 Although Mary Jane's
asylum claim was time-barred, Baby Irene arrived in the United
States somewhat later and her claim is not time-barred. It is
based on threats made over the telephone and at her school by
people looking for Mary Jane and Mary Jane's daughter, Sasha. Baby
Irene testified that she was never directly threatened, but that
she feared that Kastanya, a Muslim man who is Sasha's father, would
1
The standard for withholding of removal is more stringent.
Fesseha v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 13, 18 (1st Cir. 2003). Accordingly,
the failure of a petitioner's asylum claim forecloses her claim for
withholding of removal.
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continue to threaten her sister and her whole family if they
returned to Indonesia. She testified that the police could not
protect them because they are Christian. As we noted in Mary
Jane's case, "[t]he IJ fairly inferred . . . that this was
essentially a child custody battle between estranged parents, and
one which likely would have occurred even if petitioner had been a
Muslim." Lumanauw, slip op. at 4. Moreover, no one ever
threatened any direct harm against Baby Irene. Accordingly, the IJ
reasonably concluded that Baby Irene had "failed to establish that
in fact a reasonable person in her circumstances would have a basis
to fear that harm would be inflicted." Finding substantial
evidence on the record to support this conclusion, we deny the
petition for review.
Denied.
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