Shewatsega v. U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 02-1162 MESKEREM SHEWATSEGA, Petitioner, versus U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A72-416-998) Submitted: October 15, 2002 Decided: October 30, 2002 Before NIEMEYER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Rev. Uduak J. Ubom, UBOM, WHITE & ROBERTS, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Mark C. Walters, Assistant Director, James E. Grimes, Office of Immigration Litigation, 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 Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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: Meskerem Shewatsega, a native and citizen of Ethiopia, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) denying relief on her application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have reviewed the administrative record and find that substantial evidence supports the Board’s conclusion that Shewatsega failed to establish a well-founded fear of persecution as necessary to qualify for relief from deportation. 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4) (1994);* INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992); Huaman-Cornelio v. Board of Immigration Appeals, 979 F.2d 995, 999 (4th Cir. 1992); Matter of Kojoory, 12 I. & N. Dec. 215 (BIA 1967). Accordingly, we affirm the Board’s order. 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. AFFIRMED * We note that 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4) was repealed by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) effective April 1, 1997. Because this case was in transition at the time the IIRIRA was passed, 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4) is still applicable here under the terms of the transitional rules contained in § 309(c) of the IIRIRA. 2