Oleg Georgievich Amirov v. Attorney General of the United States

ALD-065 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 09-3928
OLEG GEORGIEVICH AMIROV, Petitioner
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Respondent
On Petition for Review from the
Board of Immigration Appeals
(A-072-778-928)
Immigration Judge: Walter A. Durling
Submitted for Possible Summary Action
Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
December 3, 2009
Before: SLOVITER, AMBRO and SMITH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: December 10, 2009)
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
Oleg Georgievich Amirov, a thirty-one-year-old native and citizen of Russia,
petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) rejecting
his claim for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We will grant the
government’s motion for summary affirmance, which Amirov has not opposed, and deny

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the petition for review.
In 1997, Amirov was granted derivative asylee status in the United States in
connection with his parents’ asylum application. That same year, he was convicted in a
New York state court of, among other things, third-degree assault, and was sentenced to
five years of probation. In 2007, Amirov was convicted in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Texas of possession with intent to distribute 100
kilograms or more of marijuana, and aiding and abetting; he was sentenced to sixty
months in prison. In 2008, the government commenced removal proceedings, charging
Amirov as removable on several grounds, including the commission of a crime involving
moral turpitude and a controlled substance offense. Amirov conceded his removability
before the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and filed an application for deferral of removal under
the CAT, claiming that he would likely be tortured in Russia because he is Jewish.
The IJ accepted the credibility of Amirov’s testimony, but denied relief upon
consideration of the record evidence. The IJ concluded that Amirov had failed to show
that it is more likely than not that the Russian government will act with a specific intent to
torture him, or acquiesce to his torture. While the IJ found evidence that the Russian
government may be unable or unwilling to protect Jews from acts of harassment and
persecution, and while the IJ was willing to presume that Amirov would be detained for
questioning by immigration authorities upon his return to Russia, the IJ found no record
evidence that Amirov is likely to be singled out for torture.
The BIA dismissed Amirov’s appeal on the basis of the IJ’s decision,

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supplemented with an analysis of its own. The BIA agreed that Amirov failed to establish
that it is more likely than not that he will be tortured, explaining that, although there is
evidence of anti-Semitism, harassment, and violence against Jews (i.e., evidence of
persecution), Amirov did not present evidence that the Russian government is involved in
the systematic identification and torture of Jews. The BIA noted record evidence that
there are anti-Semitic elements in Russian society, and that the Russian government has
displayed an unwillingness to fully prosecute hate crimes, but it observed that Amirov
cannot support a CAT claim merely by stringing together suppositions about what will
happen upon his return. Given the “number and speculative nature” of the suppositions
supporting Amirov’s claim, and the lack of evidence of pervasive and systematic torture
of Jews, the BIA held that Amirov’s claim for CAT relief must fail. The BIA noted that
Amirov did not show that violence in Russia against Jews is severe enough to qualify as
torture, or is so pervasive as to establish a probability that Amirov would be singled out
for torture with government acquiescence.
Amirov timely filed his petition for review, and he has moved for a stay of
removal pending this Court’s review. The government opposes a stay and has moved for
a summary disposition on the merits of the petition for review. Amirov, who is
represented by counsel, has not filed a response in opposition to the motion for summary
disposition. Because we conclude that Amirov’s petition for review presents “no
substantial question,” 3d Cir. I.O.P. Ch. 10.6, we will grant the government’s motion and

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1 We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). Where, as here, the BIA issues a
decision that both adopts and supplements the IJ’s reasoning, this Court has jurisdiction
to review the decisions of both the IJ and BIA. See, e.g., Xie v. Ashcroft, 359 F.3d 239,
242 (3d Cir. 2004). Factual determinations underlying the denial of a CAT claim are
reviewed under the substantial evidence standard, which means that this Court will not
disturb those determinations if they are supported by reasonable, substantial, and
probative evidence on the record considered as a whole. Tarrawally v. Ashcroft, 338
F.3d 180, 184 (3d Cir. 2003). We regard such determinations as conclusive unless the
record not only supports a contrary conclusion, but compels it. Abdille v. Ashcroft, 242
F.3d 477, 483-84 (3d Cir. 2001).
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deny the petition for review.1
An alien seeking CAT relief must demonstrate “that it is ‘more likely than not’ that
he or she will be tortured.” Pierre v. Att’y Gen., 528 F.3d 180, 186 (3d Cir. 2008) (en
banc). “In order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically intended to inflict severe
physical or mental pain or suffering.” Id. That act must be “‘inflicted by or at the
instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person
acting in an official capacity.’” Id. at 189 (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.18(a)(1)). It is not
enough for public officials to be “willfully blind” to torturous acts; the officials must
“have the goal or purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering.” Id. at 190.
After a review of the full administrative record, we find no room to question the IJ
and BIA’s stated reasons for denying CAT relief. At most, the record establishes the
possibility that Amirov will suffer acts of persecution in Russia as a Jew. But as the IJ
observed, the question raised by Amirov’s request for a deferral of removal under the
CAT is not whether he will face persecution, but whether he will be singled out for
torture. The record does not compel a conclusion contrary to the determination by the IJ

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and BIA that Amirov has failed to show that torture is more likely than not to occur, or,
moreover, that any torturous act would be inflicted by or with the acquiescence of
Russian officials. While Amirov presented evidence of violence directed against Jews in
Russia, the record does not compel a conclusion that such violence amounts to a form of
torture, or that it is so pervasive as to establish a probability that Amirov himself would
be tortured.
For these reasons, we will grant the government’s unopposed motion for summary
action and deny the petition for review. In light of this disposition, we also deny
Amirov’s motion for a stay of removal pending review.

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