Filed: Nov. 30, 2004
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-2205 LEDANOFF MUSSOTTE, Petitioner, versus JOHN ASHCROFT, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A78-153-438) Submitted: November 17, 2004 Decided: November 30, 2004 Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Randall L. Johnson, JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Petitioner. Peter
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-2205 LEDANOFF MUSSOTTE, Petitioner, versus JOHN ASHCROFT, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A78-153-438) Submitted: November 17, 2004 Decided: November 30, 2004 Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Randall L. Johnson, JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Petitioner. Peter ..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-2205
LEDANOFF MUSSOTTE,
Petitioner,
versus
JOHN ASHCROFT, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals. (A78-153-438)
Submitted: November 17, 2004 Decided: November 30, 2004
Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Randall L. Johnson, JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, P.C., Arlington,
Virginia, for Petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney
General, Mary Jane Candaux, Senior Litigation Counsel, Stephen J.
Flynn, OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION LITIGATION, Washington, D.C., for
Respondent.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Ledanoff Mussotte, a native and citizen of Haiti,
petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals (“Board”) dismissing his appeal from the immigration
judge’s denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection
under the Convention Against Torture.
In his petition for review, Mussotte contends that he
established his eligibility for asylum relief. The record reveals,
however, that the immigration judge denied asylum relief on the
grounds that (1) Mussotte failed to demonstrate by clear and
convincing evidence that he filed his application within one year
of the date of his arrival in the United States, see 8 U.S.C. §
1158(a)(2)(B) (2000), and (2) Mussotte failed to allege any
“changed” or “extraordinary” circumstances that would excuse his
late filing, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D) (2000). We therefore lack
jurisdiction to review this determination pursuant to 8 U.S.C.
§ 1158(a)(3) (2000). See Zaidi v. Ashcroft,
377 F.3d 678, 680-81
(7th Cir. 2004) (holding that section 1158(a)(3) precludes court
from reviewing immigration judge’s finding that a petition for
asylum is barred because untimely)(collecting cases). Given this
jurisdictional bar, we cannot review the underlying merits of
Mussotte’s asylum claim.
While we lack jurisdiction to consider the immigration
judge’s denial of Mussotte’s asylum claim, we retain jurisdiction
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to consider the denial of his request for withholding of removal.*
See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4(a) (2004). “To qualify for withholding of
removal, a petitioner must show that he faces a clear probability
of persecution because of his race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”
Rusu v. INS,
296 F.3d 316, 324 n.13 (4th Cir. 2002) (citing INS v.
Stevic,
467 U.S. 407, 430 (1984)). Based on our review of the
record, we find that Mussotte has failed to meet this standard.
Finally, Mussotte contends that the Board’s decision to
adopt and affirm the immigration judge’s decision violated his
right to due process of law. Mussotte, however, fails to establish
either that he was prejudiced by the Board’s decision to adopt the
reasoning of the immigration judge, see Rusu, 296 F.3d at 324-25
(holding that to prevail on a procedural due process claim, an
alien must “show that better procedures are likely to have made a
difference in the outcome of his hearing”), or that the Board’s
summary affirmance was constitutionally deficient, see Blanco de
Belbruno v. Ashcroft,
362 F.3d 272, 282-83 (4th Cir. 2004) (finding
that Board’s affirmance without opinion satisfies due process where
immigration judge’s opinion may be meaningfully reviewed). We
therefore find that he is not entitled to relief on this claim.
*
Mussotte’s brief merely asserts, without supporting argument,
that the immigration judge erred in denying him protection under
the Convention Against Torture. He has therefore waived appellate
review of this claim. See Edwards v. City of Goldsboro,
178 F.3d
231, 241 n.6 (4th Cir. 1999).
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Accordingly, we deny Mussotte’s petition for review. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions
are adequately presented in the materials before the court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.
PETITION DENIED
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