United States Ninth Circuit

A petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied, where: 1) the BIA may consider sentencing enhancements for purposes of determining whether an alien who has not committed an aggravated felony has nonetheless committed a particularly serious crime; 2) in this case, the BIA did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the nature of petitioner's conviction, the circumstances and facts underlying the conviction, and the type of sentence imposed, including the sentencing enhancement, supported the finding that petitioner's assault and battery conviction constituted a particularly serious crime; and 3) substantial evidence supported the BIA's determination that petitioner failed to establish a clear probability of future torture because the Marshall Islands country report indicated that laws criminalizing homosexuality were categorically not enforced.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/09/2014
• Published 05/09/2014

Judges

• GILMAN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel