Abubakar Kamara v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Abubakar Kamara, a native and citizen of Sierra Leone, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings. Sowe v. Mukasey, 538 F.3d 1281, 1285 (9th Cir.2008). We dismiss in part and deny in part the petition for review.

We lack jurisdiction to review Kamara’s contention that he is eligible for humanitarian asylum because he failed to exhaust it before the BIA. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 678 (9th Cir.2004).

Substantial evidence supports the agency’s finding that, even if Kamara’s asylum application was timely, and even if Kamara established past persecution, the government rebutted the presumption that Kamara has a well-founded fear of persecution if he returned to Sierra Leone. See Sowe, 538 F.3d at 1285-87 (evidence of fundamental changes in Sierra Leone rebutted the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution). Accordingly,…