Farid Faham Gamal Ghaly v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Ghaly petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (Board) decision denying his applications for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction over this timely petition pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). The petition is denied.

I

Ghaly is a native and citizen of Egypt and a member of the Coptic Christian faith. He entered the United States in 1981 on a J-l Exchange Visitor Visa, which was issued in order to permit him to participate in a special program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (Agency). The Agency paid for him to obtain a Masters Degree in public health from the University of California at Berkeley, subject to the condition that he return to Egypt. After receiving his degree, however, Ghaly chose not to return despite the expiration of his visa and his commitment to the Agency.

In 1985, deportation proceedings were initiated and Ghaly filed an application for asylum and withholding of deportation pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 (a), 1253(h). At an October 1987 hearing, Ghaly and others testified that Christians are subject to discrimination and even violence in Egypt due to their faith, and that Ghaly’s medical…