Donchev

FACTS

Donchev entered the United States on March 1, 2003 at age 26 on a false Belgian passport that he bought. He is Bulgar- ian, not Belgian. His mother lives in Bulgaria, his sister in the United States, where she has become a citizen. Donchev was apprehended when special agents from the Bureau of Immi- gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant on his sister’s residence, where Donchev lived. The search turned up numerous fraudulent immigration documents and about $40,000 cash. 1 The IJ found that Donchev’s wife, Avgustina Tsvetanova Zhivkova (Zhivkova) does not have an independent asylum claim. Zhivkova’s appli- cation stands or falls with Donchev’s. DONCHEV v. MUKASEY 653 The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Donchev. Donchev then applied for asy- lum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. His application says that his nationality is Bulgarian and that he seeks asylum or withholding of removal based on membership in a “particular social group.” He claims:

I have been held at police stations and have been mistreated and harmed because of my participation in the…