Zuo Zhang v. Loretta E. Lynch
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM '
Zuo Chen Zhang petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) order (1) dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT); and (2) denying his motion to remand. We deny Zhang’s petition in part and dismiss it in part.
1. We need not decide whether the REAL ID Act of 2005 applies here. The BIA decided the case, in the alternative, under both pre- and post-REAL ID Act standards. Even under pre-REAL ID standards, Zhang has not established that he is entitled to relief.
2. The BIA did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Zhang committed a “particularly serious crime” that renders him ineligible for asylum. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(2)(A)(ii); Alphonsus v. Holder, 705 F.3d 1031, 1043 (9th Cir.2013). An asylum applicant who has been “convicted of an aggravated felony shall be considered to have been convicted of a particularly serious crime.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(2)(B)(i). A “crime of violence ... for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year” constitutes an aggravated felony. Id. § 1101(a)(43)(F).