Emilienne Sobze Kenfack v. Eric Holder, Jr. , 491 F. App'x 411 ( 2012 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 12-1543
    EMILIENNE   MADELEINE   SOBZE     KENFACK,      a/k/a     Emilienne
    Madeleine Sobze Kenefack,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General,
    Respondent.
    On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
    Appeals.
    Submitted:   December 11, 2012              Decided:    December 20, 2012
    Before WILKINSON, WYNN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
    Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Danielle   L.C.   Beach-Oswald,  BEACH-OSWALD  IMMIGRATION   LAW
    ASSOCIATES, PC, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner.     Stuart F.
    Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Francis W. Fraser,
    Senior Litigation Counsel, Dawn S. Conrad, Office of Immigration
    Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington,
    D.C., for Respondent.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Emilienne Madeleine Sobze Kenfack (“Sobze”), a native
    and citizen of Cameroon, petitions for review of an order of the
    Board   of    Immigration      Appeals      (“Board”)        dismissing       her    appeal
    from the immigration judge’s denial of her requests for asylum,
    withholding        of   removal,     and    protection       under     the     Convention
    Against Torture.          For the reasons set forth below, we deny the
    petition for review.
    A     determination     regarding       eligibility        for    asylum      or
    withholding of removal is affirmed if supported by substantial
    evidence on the record considered as a whole.                           INS v. Elias-
    Zacarias, 
    502 U.S. 478
    , 481 (1992).                   Administrative findings of
    fact, including findings on credibility, are conclusive unless
    any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to decide to the
    contrary.        
    8 U.S.C. § 1252
    (b)(4)(B) (2006).                  Legal issues are
    reviewed      de    novo,     “affording         appropriate      deference         to    the
    [Board]’s     interpretation         of    the    [Immigration         and    Nationality
    Act] and any attendant regulations.”                     Li Fang Lin v. Mukasey,
    
    517 F.3d 685
    , 691-92 (4th Cir. 2008).                    This court will reverse
    the   Board      only    if   “the    evidence       .   .    .   presented         was    so
    compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find the
    requisite fear of persecution.”                    Elias-Zacarias, 
    502 U.S. at 483-84
    ; see Rusu v. INS, 
    296 F.3d 316
    , 325 n.14 (4th Cir. 2002).
    Furthermore,        “[t]he    agency       decision      that     an    alien       is    not
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    eligible for asylum is ‘conclusive unless manifestly contrary to
    the law and an abuse of discretion.’”                   Marynenka v. Holder, 
    592 F.3d 594
    , 600 (4th Cir. 2010) (quoting 
    8 U.S.C. § 1252
    (b)(4)(D)
    (2006)).
    We have reviewed the evidence of record and conclude
    that     substantial      evidence     supports         the     adverse     credibility
    finding.       We    further      conclude      that    Sobze    failed      to   present
    sufficient          independent       evidence          of      past        persecution,
    notwithstanding        the     adverse       credibility         determination,        as
    discussed in Camara v. Ashcroft, 
    378 F.3d 361
    , 370 (4th Cir.
    2004).     We therefore uphold the denial of Sobze’s requests for
    asylum and withholding of removal.                See 
    id. at 367
     (“Because the
    burden of proof for withholding of removal is higher than for
    asylum — even though the facts that must be proved are the same
    —   an   applicant     who   is    ineligible        for     asylum    is   necessarily
    ineligible      for     withholding        of     removal        under      [8    U.S.C.]
    § 1231(b)(3).”).
    Additionally,        Sobze     challenges        the     denial     of   her
    request for protection under the Convention Against Torture.                           To
    qualify for such protection, a petitioner bears the burden of
    proof of showing “it is more likely than not that he or she
    would    be    tortured      if    removed      to     the    proposed      country    of
    removal.”      
    8 C.F.R. § 1208.16
    (c)(2) (2012).                 Based on our review
    of the record, we conclude that substantial evidence supports
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    the denial of her request for relief.                See Dankam v. Gonzales,
    
    495 F.3d 113
    , 124 (4th Cir. 2007) (setting forth standard of
    review).
    Accordingly,    we    deny       the   petition     for     review.      We
    dispense   with     oral   argument     because         the    facts     and     legal
    contentions   are   adequately    presented        in    the   materials       before
    this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
    PETITION DENIED
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