King On Wong v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM *

King On Wong, a native and a citizen of China, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s denial of asylum. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105 (a), as amended by the transitional rules in section 309(c)(4) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. See Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1149-50 (9th Cir.1997). We review the BIA’s legal findings de novo. See Ghaly v. INS, 58 F.3d 1425, 1429 (9th Cir.1995).

Wong contends that his current fear of persecution if returned to Hong Kong belies the BIA’s finding that he had been firmly resettled there, and thus was ineligible for asylum. We disagree. The BIA correctly held that Wong’s current fear of persecution is not relevant to a finding that he was previously firmly resettled in Hong Kong. The firm resettlement inquiry is concerned only with the alien’s situation before coming to the United States. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.13 (c)(2)(i)(B) (stating that an alien is barred from asylum if the alien “[h]as been firmly resettled ....”) (emphasis added); see also Vang v. INS, 146 F.3d 1114, 1117 (9th Cir.1998)…