Qamar v. Lynch

15-244 Qamar v. Lynch BIA Bain, IJ A074 909 939 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT SUMMARY ORDER RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT=S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING TO A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL. 1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for 2 the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States 3 Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 4 14th day of November, two thousand sixteen. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 JOSÉ A. CABRANES, 8 RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., 9 SUSAN L. CARNEY, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _____________________________________ 12 13 FAROOQ QAMAR, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 15-244 17 NAC 18 LORETTA E. LYNCH, UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 _____________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Amy Nussbaum Gell, New York, NY. 24 25 FOR RESPONDENT: Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy 26 Assistant Attorney General; Leslie 27 McKay, Assistant Director; Melissa 28 K. Lott, Trial Attorney, Office of 29 Immigration Litigation, United 30 States Department of Justice, 31 Washington, DC. 1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 2 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby 3 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is 4 DENIED. 5 Petitioner Farooq Qamar, a native and citizen of Pakistan, 6 seeks review of a December 31, 2014, decision of the BIA 7 affirming a March 11, 2013, decision of an Immigration Judge 8 (“IJ”) denying asylum, withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. 9 § 1231(b)(3), withholding of removal under the Convention 10 Against Torture (“CAT”), and adjustment of status. In re 11 Farooq Qamar, No. A074 909 939 (B.I.A. Dec. 31, 2014), aff’g 12 No. A074 909 939 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Mar. 11, 2013). We assume 13 the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and 14 procedural history in this case. 15 Under the circumstances of this case, we have reviewed both 16 the IJ’s and the BIA’s opinions “for the sake of completeness.” 17 Wangchuck v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 448 F.3d 524, 528 (2d Cir. 18 2006). The applicable standards of review are well 19 established. See Khouzam v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 161, 164-65 (2d 20 Cir. 2004). The agency did not err in finding Qamar barred from 21 asylum, withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3), and 22 withholding of removal under the CAT, based on his admission 2 1 that he assisted his uncle, who was an international drug 2 trafficker, in packing and holding a shipment of heroin in 3 Pakistan. 4 The agency must deny asylum and withholding of removal, if 5 “there are serious reasons for believing that the alien has 6 committed a serious nonpolitical crime outside the United 7 States prior to the arrival of the alien in the United States.” 8 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii); see also 8 U.S.C. 9 § 1231(b)(3)(B)(iii); 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(d)(2). “The serious 10 reasons to believe standard is the equivalent of probable 11 cause.” Guo Qi Wang v. Holder, 583 F.3d 86, 90 (2d Cir. 2009) 12 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). In 13 determining whether a crime is serious, the agency considers 14 “the alien’s description of the crime, the turpitudinous nature 15 of the crime according to [the BIA’s] precedents, the value of 16 any property involved, the length of sentence imposed and 17 served, and the usual punishments imposed for comparable 18 offenses in the United States.” Matter of Ballester-Garcia, 19 17 I. & N. Dec. 592, 595 (B.I.A. 1980). 20 Given that Qamar admitted to packing and holding a shipment 21 of heroin, which were not political acts, the only issue in 22 Qamar’s case is whether those acts constituted a serious crime. 3 1 See Guo Qi Wang, 583 F.3d at 91 (finding the “serious reasons 2 for believing” standard satisfied based on applicant’s 3 admission). The agency reasonably concluded that they did, 4 noting BIA precedent treating drug trafficking as an inherently 5 serious crime. See In re Y-L-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 270, 275 (B.I.A. 6 2002). Furthermore, as the agency noted, aiding and abetting 7 the unlawful distribution of heroin is a felony under U.S. law. 8 See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 3559(a); 21 U.S.C. §§ 812(c), 841. 9 Qamar argues that the agency erred in finding his acts a 10 serious crime without considering that he was only 16 or 17 years 11 old at the time or that cultural and familial pressures 12 prevented him from refusing to assist his uncle. There is no 13 merit to this argument. First, the agency explicitly 14 considered these factors. Second, as the agency noted, a 15 juvenile who is alleged to have committed a drug trafficking 16 offense while over the age of 15 may be prosecuted as an adult 17 pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5032, and Qamar testified that his family 18 did not pressure him to participate in their drug business. 19 Accordingly, given Qamar’s admission of acts that amount to a 20 felony drug trafficking offense, the agency did not err in 21 finding that he was barred from asylum and withholding of 22 removal for having committed a serious nonpolitical crime 4 1 before his arrival in the United States. See 8 U.S.C. 2 §§ 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii), 1231(b)(3)(B)(iii); 8 C.F.R. 3 § 1208.16(d)(2); Guo Qi Wang, 583 F.3d at 90; Matter of 4 Ballester-Garcia, 17 I. & N. Dec. at 595. 5 We do not consider the agency’s denial of adjustment of 6 status because Qamar fails to adequately challenge the agency’s 7 decision to that extent. See Yueqing Zhang v. Gonzales, 426 8 F.3d 540, 545 n.7 (2d Cir. 2005) (declining to consider a claim 9 as abandoned when petitioner “devote[d] only a single 10 conclusory sentence to the argument”). 11 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 12 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of removal 13 that the Court previously granted in this petition is VACATED, 14 and any pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition 15 is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for oral argument 16 in this petition is DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of 17 Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule 18 34.1(b). 19 FOR THE COURT: 20 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 5