Maher Kutkut v. Eric Holder, Jr. , 550 F. App'x 392 ( 2013 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 18 2013
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
MAHER OMAR KUTKUT, AKA Maher No. 10-70376
Omar Abdel Majid Kutkut, AKA Maher
Omar Abdelmajid Kutkut, Agency No. A095-656-685
Petitioner,
MEMORANDUM*
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted December 2, 2013
Pasadena, California
Before: SCHROEDER, CLIFTON, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.
Maher Omar Kutkut petitions for review of the Board of Immigration
Appeals’ decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of his applications for
asylum, withholding, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
The asylum application was denied as untimely because it was filed fifteen
months after the expiration of Petitioner’s legal status. Moreover, it was filed after
removal proceedings had been instituted. Petitioner contends that the delay should
nevertheless be considered reasonable, likening his situation to the situation in
Taslimi v. Holder, 590 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2010), where we held a delay of seven
months was reasonable in light of petitioner’s uncertainties about the permanence
of her religious conversion. Petitioner’s delay was twice as long, however, and
prompted by no comparable change in the circumstances of his life affecting his
eligibility for relief.
Given the speculative nature of his concerns about how he would be treated
on his return to Jordan, the evidence does not compel a conclusion that he had a
well-founded fear of persecution. See Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1018 (9th
Cir. 2003). The denial of withholding and relief under CAT must be upheld.
In light of our disposition of the case in a nonprecedential memorandum,
Petitioner’s pending motion is denied as moot.
Petition DENIED.
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