Opinions of the United
2007 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
7-16-2007
Soesilo v. Atty Gen USA
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 06-2014
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"Soesilo v. Atty Gen USA" (2007). 2007 Decisions. Paper 765.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 06-2014
LAURENTIUS SOESILO,
Petitioner
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE UNITED STATES,
Respondent
On Petition for Review of an Order of
The Board of Immigration Appeals
Immigration Judge: Honorable Charles M. Honeyman
(No. A96-262-290)
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
July 13, 2007
Before: RENDELL, AMBRO, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges
(filed: July 16, 2007 )
OPINION
AMBRO, Circuit Judge
Laurentius Soesilo, an ethnic Chinese person and a citizen of Indonesia, petitions
for a review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that affirmed,
without opinion, the decision of an Immigration Judge (IJ) denying Soesilo’s timely
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against
Torture (CAT). Because we conclude that Soesilo failed to establish a well-founded fear
of persecution if he were to return to Indonesia, we deny the petition for review.1
To establish eligibility for asylum, an applicant must show a well-founded fear of
persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social
group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42); INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478,
483 (1992). To prevail on an asylum claim where the persecution occurs at the hands of
non-governmental actors, Soesilo must show that the government is “unable or unwilling”
to control them. Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. 211, 222 (BIA 1985), overruled on
other grounds by INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 446 & n.30 (1987). For
withholding of removal, an alien must prove that, if removed to his home country, he
would “more likely than not” face threats to his life or freedom on the basis of the same
factors noted for asylum. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A); INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 429–30
(1984) (setting forth the “more likely than not” standard for mandatory withholding);
Tarrawally v. Ashcroft, 338 F.3d 180, 186 (3d Cir. 1986) (en banc).
1
We have jurisdiction under § 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(1). Because the BIA affirmed the IJ’s
decision without opinion, we review the IJ’s decision directly. Dia v. Ashcroft, 353 F.3d
228, 245 (3d Cir. 2003) (en banc). We review the IJ’s conclusion of law de novo and his
findings of fact under the substantial evidence standard. Touissaint v. Att’y Gen., 455
F.3d 409, 413 (3d Cir. 2006).
2
Soesilo alleged that he had been persecuted on the basis of race, religion, and
membership within a particular social group. He based these allegations on two
incidents. First, he testified that in July 1993 native Indonesians demanded money from
his parents’ photocopy store, threatened to burn down the place when no money was
turned over, and later wrote a racist epithet on the store’s door. Second, he reported that
in the spring of 1998 rioters broke the store’s glass window, damaged two copy machines,
and inflicted bruises on Soesilo’s stomach and face that placed him in the hospital for one
week. He testified that his parents and sister have continued to work at the store and no
other such incidents have occurred.
The IJ credited Soesilo’s testimony, but found that the incidents did not rise to the
level of persecution on account of any of the enumerated or alleged statutory bases.2
Allegations by Indonesian citizens that they were persecuted “because they are ethnically
Chinese and Christian [and] [m]ore specifically, . . . were robbed on separate occasions
by unknown individuals who targeted them because of their ethnicity and their religion,”
have become a “familiar fact pattern.” Lie v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 530, 532 (3d Cir. 2005).
We have concluded that, while unfortunate, incidents of the type that Soesilo alleged do
not rise to the level of persecution even if they were motivated by one of the enumerated
2
Soesilo included religion as one of the bases on the ground that he was persecuted by
Muslims because of his Christian religion. However, he admitted to the immigration
judge that the incidents did not involve his religion, and he has not reasserted that religion
was a motivating factor behind the crimes against his parents’ store. Accordingly, we
deem this argument waived.
3
statutory grounds for asylum because they are not “sufficiently severe.” Id. at 536.
Specifically, “two isolated criminal acts, perpetrated by unknown assailants, which
resulted only in the theft of some personal property and a minor injury, is not sufficiently
sever to be considered persecution.” Id. Soesilo has alleged neither that the identity of
the assailants is known nor that the government is unable or unwilling to control them. In
addition, the following facts cut against Soesilo’s assertion that he fears persecution if
removed: he remained in Indonesia until 1999 when he came to pursue studies in the
United States, and his family remains there until this day without incident.
For these reasons, we deny the petition for review.
4