El Bitar v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM **

Eyad El Bitar is a stateless native of Saudi Arabia of Palestinian descent. El Bitar petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) affirmance without opinion of the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) final order denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition.

El Bitar seeks asylum and withholding of removal on the ground that his stateless status itself is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that because he is stateless Saudi Arabia has denied him a series of rights, including the right to re-enter the country, despite having been born there, the right to attend a Saudi Arabian university and the right to employment without a Saudi Arabian sponsor. Although El Bitar was born in Saudi Arabia, he is not a citizen because his father is Palestinian; therefore, when he left the country to travel to the United States under the auspices of his employer, but was subsequently fired by that employer, he was not allowed to obtain a visa to return. Furthermore, El Bitar is unable to obtain a worker’s residency because Saudi Arabia requires that he…