Opinion
10-4615-ag NAC
12-13-2011
OUSAINE BALDEH, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent.
FOR PETITIONER: Gary J. Yerman, New York, New York. FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney General; Richard M. Evans, Assistant Director; Nancy E. Friedman, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
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 A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of New York, on the 13th day of December, two thousand eleven.
PRESENT:
ROGER J. MINER ,
REENA RAGGI,
SUSAN L. CARNEY,
Circuit Judges.
FOR PETITIONER:
Gary J. Yerman, New York, New York.
FOR RESPONDENT:
Tony West, Assistant Attorney
General; Richard M. Evans, Assistant
Director; Nancy E. Friedman, Senior
Litigation Counsel, Office of
Immigration Litigation, Civil
Division, United States Department
of Justice, Washington, D.C.
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") decision, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is DENIED.
Petitioner Ousaine Baldeh, a native and citizen of the Gambia, seeks review of an October 15, 2010, order of the BIA affirming the November 25, 2008, decision of Immigration Judge ("IJ") Gabriel C. Videla denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). In re Ousaine Baldeh, No. A094 824 931 (B.I.A. Oct. 15, 2010), aff'g No. A094 824 931 (Immigr. Ct. N.Y. City Nov. 25, 2008). We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of this case. Under the circumstances of this case, we review the IJ's decision as supplemented by the BIA's decision. See Yan Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir. 2005).
Baldeh argues that the IJ's adverse credibility finding was not supported by the inconsistencies in his testimony. However, as the BIA found, Baldeh's appeal to the BIA did not present any specific challenges to the IJ's adverse credibility finding. Accordingly, we decline to consider Baldeh's challenges to the adverse credibility finding because he failed to exhaust the arguments by presenting them to the BIA in the first instance. See Lin Zhong v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 480 F.3d 104, 122 (2d Cir. 2007) (reaffirming that this Court "may consider only those issues that formed the basis for [the BIA's] decision"). Because Baldeh's requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief shared the same common factual basis, the agency's finding that his testimony was not credible supports the agency's denial of all three forms of relief. See Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 155-56 (2d Cir. 2006).
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of removal that the Court previously granted in this petition is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2) and Second Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk