Ndambo

MEMORANDUM

Catherine Ndambo, a native and citizen of Kenya, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) adopting and affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Ndambo fears being forcibly circumcised by her husband, who is a member of the Mungiki sect, a political and religious group which advocates female genital mutilation (“FGM”).

Background

The BIA affirmed the IJ’s determination that Ndambo’s asylum application was time-barred. The BIA also affirmed the IJ’s alternative finding that even assuming arguendo that Ndambo’s asylum application was not time-barred, she had not carried her burden of establishing that she held an objectively reasonable fear of FGM, given that she had lived safely in Kenya for several years before leaving for the United States. Having failed to prove her eligibility for asylum, the IJ held that Ndambo could not meet the higher eviden-tiary burden required to qualify for withholding for removal. Finally, the IJ held that Ndambo failed to establish that she had a claim under the CAT because the…