Van Nguyen v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

MEMORANDUM ***

Dung Van Nguyen (“Nguyen”), a native and citizen of Laos and a citizen of Vietnam, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming an immigration judge’s denial of his requests for asylum and withholding of deportation. Nguyen contends the BIA erred in determining that he failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution based upon (1) his anti-Communist beliefs, (2) a three-year period of part-time forced labor for the Laotian government; (3) his Vietnamese heritage; or (4) his father’s known anti-government views. Nguyen further asks this court to consider a claim he raises for the first time on appeal, pursuant to Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter “Convention Against Torture”).

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Nguyen failed to establish past persecution. Athough Nguyen testified that from late 1978 to 1982, he was forced to perform hard labor one or two days per week for the Laotian government, he never claimed that this forced labor was a component of a…