Syed v. Ashcroft

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT SHAJAR ABBAS SYED,  Petitioner, v.  No. 02-2072 JOHN ASHCROFT, Attorney General, Respondent.  On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A70-894-512) Submitted: May 27, 2003 Decided: June 17, 2003 Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL Rachel S. Ullman, JOHNSON & YANG, P.C., Wheaton, Maryland, for Petitioner. Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, M. Jocelyn Lopez Wright, Senior Litigation Counsel, Russell J. E. Verby, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. 2 SYED v. ASHCROFT Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). OPINION PER CURIAM: Shajar Abbas Syed, a native and citizen of Pakistan, seeks review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("Board") deny- ing his application for asylum, withholding of deportation and volun- tary departure. We have reviewed the administrative record, the Board’s order and the IJ’s decision and find substantial evidence sup- ports the Board’s conclusion that Syed failed to establish a well- founded fear of persecution necessary to qualify for relief from depor- tation. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b) (2003). We conclude the record sup- ports the Board’s conclusion that Syed failed to establish his eligibility for asylum. The standard for receiving withholding of deportation is "more stringent than that for asylum eligibility." Chen v. INS, 195 F.3d 198, 205 (4th Cir. 1999). An applicant for withholding must demonstrate a clear probability of persecution. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430 (1987). As Syed failed to establish refugee status, he cannot satisfy the higher standard for withholding of deportation. We find Syed’s argument regarding the denial of his application for voluntary departure to be without merit. We accordingly deny the petition for review. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. PETITION DENIED