Zulbeari v. I.N.S., 90-3299
| Decision Date | 12 May 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-3299,90-3299 |
| Citation | 963 F.2d 999 |
| Parties | Adil ZULBEARI, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
James Canfield, Rockford, Ill. (argued), for Adil Zulbeari.
Alison R. Drucker, Lori L. Scialabba, Charles E. Pazar, Robert Kendall, Jr., Philemina Jones (argued), Dept. of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Richard L. Thornburg, U.S. Atty. Gen., Washington, D.C., A.D. Moyer, I.N.S., Chicago, Ill., for I.N.S.
Before CUDAHY and MANION, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge.
Petitioner Adil Zulbeari, appeals from a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the BIA) denying his application for asylum and ordering his deportation. Zulbeari, an ethnic Albanian Muslim, who is a citizen of Yugoslavia, entered the country near El Paso, Texas as an alien and without inspection by an immigration officer. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (the INS) charged him with deportability. Zulbeari conceded that he is deportable, but at his deportation hearing, he requested asylum. The Immigration Judge denied his request, holding that Zulbeari did not establish that he has a well-founded fear of persecution if he returns to Yugoslavia. The Immigration Judge gave Zulbeari 30 days to voluntarily depart or be deported to Yugoslavia. The BIA dismissed his appeal. We affirm.
The critical facts in this case surround the arrest and imprisonment of three of Zulbeari's close friends for participating in a pro-Albanian demonstration in January 1986 and for possessing books relating to Albania and an Albanian flag. Zulbeari testified that he fears persecution because he worked closely with these men and spoke out against the government in conversations with them.
According to Zulbeari's testimony, government authorities questioned him twice about his relationship with the three friends and about whether he possessed any Albanian books. The first interrogation took place in November 1985, and he was questioned for three hours. In January 1986, his home was searched while his family was home and while he was away at work. The authorities did not interrogate his family at this time. The second interrogation took place in February 1986 before the arrests of his three friends and lasted an entire day. Zulbeari testified that the authorities slapped him during this interrogation. Twenty days later, after procuring a passport extension through a bribe, Zulbeari left Yugoslavia for Mexico.
Zulbeari testified that he was not a member of any political organization 1 and did not participate in the January 1986 demonstrations for which his friends were arrested. The police did not find any Albanian books when they searched his home in January. He was not interrogated by the police at any time after his friends were arrested. Other than engaging in general discussions with friends about the injustices inflicted on the Albanians by the Yugoslav government, his only political activity was helping to organize a demonstration in Kosovo in 1981 concerning education. He stated that he did not attend the demonstration.
Zulbeari testified that government officials visited his home after he left and inquired as to his whereabouts. His wife told them that he had left the country. Zulbeari presented no other witnesses or affidavits in support of his petition.
We must uphold a BIA decision if it is supported by "substantial evidence." Balazoski v. INS, 932 F.2d 638, 640 (7th Cir.1991); Carvajal-Munoz v. INS, 743 F.2d 562 (7th Cir.1984). Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158, provides for discretionary grants of asylum to persons who qualify as refugees under section 101(a)(42)(A) "because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion." Although the Supreme Court has declined to define "well-founded fear," this court has consistently held that in order to demonstrate a well-founded fear, a petitioner must present specific, detailed facts showing a good reason to fear that he or she will be singled out for persecution. Balazoski, 932 F.2d at 641; Carvajal-Munoz, 743 F.2d at 573. Zulbeari's uncorroborated testimony is insufficient if it does not meet this standard.
There is substantial evidence to support the BIA's finding that Zulbeari's activities were not such that a reasonable person would fear persecution. He is not a member of a political organization, he has not participated in any demonstrations and he did not own any Albanian books while in Yugoslavia. The police interrogations to which he was subjected focused primarily on the activities of his friends and ceased after they were arrested. Although the police visited his home after he left the country, he had obtained a passport extension by bribing an official, a circumstance that may have prompted the visit. There is no indication that the police interrogated his wife about his political activities and from his testimony the visit appeared to have been brief. There is also no evidence that his family has been disturbed since that initial visit in 1986, a fact that is relevant in determining whether there is a well-founded fear of persecution. See Cuadras v. INS, 910 F.2d 567, 571 (9th Cir.1990).
Zulbeari presented no specific facts demonstrating a reasonable fear of being singled out for persecution. In fact, it appears from the evidence that the authorities were interested in gathering information about his friends and have shown little, if any, interest in him since the time his friends were arrested. Zulbeari's general complaints about the treatment of Albanians in Yugoslavia, 2 while of interest, do not constitute specific events which would result in singling him out for persecution. Instead, they are complaints about discrimination which would presumably be shared by many or all ethnic...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Najjar v. Ashcroft, Nos. 99-14391
...out for persecution'" on account of such an opinion. Faddoul v. INS, 37 F.3d 185, 188 (5th Cir. 1994)18 (quoting Zulbeari v. INS, 963 F.2d 999, 1000 (7th Cir. 1992)); Rezai v. INS, 62 F.3d 1286, 1289 (10th Cir. 1995) (alien "must present specific, credible evidence to support his claim that......
-
Rhoa-Zamora v. I.N.S.
...reviewed Board decisions ordering deportation in cases where the petitioner did not file a motion to reopen. See, e.g., Zulbeari v. INS, 963 F.2d 999 (7th Cir.1992); Osaghae v. INS, 942 F.2d 1160 (7th Cir.1991); Kaczmarczyk v. INS, 933 F.2d 588 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S......
-
Milosevic v. I.N.S.
...present specific, detailed facts showing a good reason to fear that he or she will be singled out for persecution." Zulbeari v. INS, 963 F.2d 999, 1000 (7th Cir.1992) (citing Balazoski v. INS, 932 F.2d 638, 641 (7th Cir.1991); Carvajal-Munoz v. INS, 743 F.2d 562, 573 (7th Ultimately, an app......
-
Ahmed v. Ashcroft
...F.3d 515, 520 (7th Cir.1999) (emphasis in original) (quoting Sivaainkaran v. INS, 972 F.2d 161, 163 (7th Cir.1992), and Zulbeari v. INS, 963 F.2d 999, 1000 (7th Cir.1992)); see also Bhatt, 172 F.3d at 982; Krastev v. INS, 101 F.3d 1213, 1216 (7th Cir.1996); Bevc v. INS, 47 F.3d 907, 910 (7t......