Gherasim

MEMORANDUM **

Neculai and Maria Gherasim, husband and wife, and their son Gabriel Eduard (Eddie) Gherasim (“Petitioners”), natives and citizens of Romania, petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying their application for asylum and withholding of deportation pursuant to sections 208(a) and 243(h)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 (a) and 1253(h)(1). Petitioners seek asylum on the basis of their Baptist religion and anticommunist political opinion. We deny the petition for review.

First, the BIA did not abuse its discretion by failing to consider the evidence submitted with Petitioners’ motion to remand or failing to remand the case to the IJ to consider the evidence. When, as here, the BIA denies a motion to remand because an alien has “fail[ed] to introduce previously unavailable, material evidence,” we review the denial for abuse of discretion. INS v. Doherty, 502 U.S. 314, 323 , 112 S.Ct. 719 , 116 L.Ed.2d 823 (1992). The BIA abuses its discretion when it fails to offer a reasoned explanation for its decision, or distorts or disregards important aspects of the alien’s claim. Konstantinova v. INS, 195…