Dumitru Belea v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Petitioners Dumitru Belea and Semida Varvas, husband and wife, and natives and citizens of Romania, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) final order denying their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we repeat only those facts necessary to resolve the issues raised on appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition for review.

As a preliminary matter, Petitioners raise two procedural challenges to the BIA decision. First, Petitioners contend that the immigration judge (IJ) did not make a finding as to their claim of well-founded fear of future persecution, and that the BIA therefore erred in adopting a “nonexistent” finding. A review of the IJ decision, however, clearly shows that, although the IJ never used the exact words “well-founded fear of future persecution,” he did consider and make a finding on the asylum claim. Second, Petitioners argue that the IJ did not make a determination as to their withholding of removal claim, and that the BIA engaged in…