Owens v. Gonzales , 155 F. App'x 720 ( 2005 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-1130
MARY OLUSOLA OWENS,
Petitioner,
versus
ALBERTO R. GONZALES, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals. (A96-088-587)
Submitted: October 19, 2005 Decided: December 1, 2005
Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Bokwe G. Mofor, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Peter D.
Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, M. Jocelyn Lopez Wright,
Assistant Director, Eric W. Marsteller, Office of Immigration
Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Mary Olusola Owens, a native and citizen of the Gambia,
petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals (Board) affirming the immigration judge's denial of her
applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection
under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).* The Board affirmed
the ruling of the immigration judge without opinion. Owens
contends on appeal that her evidence was sufficient to support her
applications for relief.
To obtain reversal of a determination denying eligibility
for asylum, an alien “must show that the evidence [s]he presented
was so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find
the requisite fear of persecution.” INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502
U.S. 478, 483-84 (1992). 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.”
Rusu v. INS, 296 F.3d 316, 325 n.14 (4th Cir. 2002) (quotation
marks and citations omitted). We have reviewed the evidence of
record and conclude that Owens fails to show that the evidence
compels a contrary result.
*
Owens’s brief contains only a short reference to the CAT,
obviously taken from the facts of another case and included by
error. Therefore, we find that any claim as to the denial of CAT
protection is waived. See Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d
231, 241 n.6 (4th Cir. 1999).
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Nor can Owens show that she was entitled to withholding
of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3) (2000). “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).” Camara v. Ashcroft, 378
F.3d 361, 367 (4th Cir. 2004).
We deny the petition for review. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.
PETITION DENIED
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