United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT April 21, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 03-60351
Summary Calendar
AHMED HAJI IBRAHIM,
Petitioner,
versus
JOHN ASHCROFT, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
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Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
BIA No. A78 588 557
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Before SMITH, DeMOSS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Ahmed Haji Ibrahim, a native of Somalia and a member of that
nation’s minority Benadiri clan, petitions for review of the
order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his
appeal of the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision to deny his
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under
the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).
On a petition for review of a BIA decision, this court
reviews factual findings for substantial evidence and questions
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 03-60351
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of law de novo. Lopez-Gomez v. Ashcroft, 263 F.3d 442, 444 (5th
Cir. 2001). “The substantial evidence standard requires only
that the BIA’s decision be supported by record evidence and be
substantially reasonable.” Omagah v. Ashcroft, 288 F.3d 254, 258
(5th Cir. 2002). This court generally reviews only the BIA’s
decision, not that of the IJ, except to the extent that the IJ’s
decision influences or affects the BIA. Id.; Renteria-Gonzalez
v. INS, 322 F.3d 804, 816 (5th Cir. 2002).
Ibrahim asserted in his application and in hearing testimony
that, at the age of 13, he fled Somalia for Kenya during the 1991
civil war, after rebels from the Hawiye clan murdered most of his
family and his uncle’s family. Ibrahim maintained that, in
Kenya, his father’s best friend, who had also lost his family in
the civil war, took care of him in Kenya from 1991 to 2000, when
Ibrahim entered the United States. The BIA affirmed the denial
of Ibrahim’s asylum application, concluding that he did “not
merit a favorable exercise of discretion for a grant of asylum”
because of his “unforced, unexplained departure from Kenya,”
where he had lived “free from harm for almost 9 years.” Given
the circumstances of the case, Ibrahim has failed to demonstrate
that the BIA’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence
or that the BIA abused its discretion in denying the application
for asylum. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1); INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca,
480 U.S. 421, 427 (1987). Ibrahim has cited no regulatory or
decisional authority that prohibited the BIA from considering
No. 03-60351
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Ibrahim’s having lived safely in a third country for almost a
decade as a discretionary basis upon which to deny an application
for asylum.
The BIA also did not err in concluding that Ibrahim had not
established a “clear probability of persecution” sufficient to
warrant withholding of removal. See Girma v. INS, 283 F.3d 664,
667 (5th Cir. 2002) (quoting INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 413
(1984)). The BIA concluded that Ibrahim had not satisfied his
burden of proof because he had failed to corroborate his identity
with documentary proof of any kind and had failed to explain this
shortcoming satisfactorily. Although an applicant’s testimony,
if credible, may be sufficient to sustain his burden of proof
without corroboration, see 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(b), this court gives
great deference to the IJ’s and BIA’s determinations of an
alien’s credibility. See Efe v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 899, 906 (5th
Cir. 2002). The BIA’s finding regarding credibility was based on
a “reasonable interpretation of the record and therefore
supported by substantial evidence.” Chun v. INS, 40 F.3d 76, 79
(5th Cir. 1994). For the same reasons, Ibrahim has not
demonstrated that he was entitled to relief under the CAT, as he
failed to establish that he would be in danger of being subjected
to torture upon a return to Somalia. See Efe, 293 F.3d at 907.
The petition for review is DENIED.