Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
Yong Feng Liu v. Holder
Citation: 332 F. App'x 677Docket: No. 08-5424-ag
Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; June 18, 2009; Federal Appellate Court
Yong Feng Liu, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, seeks judicial review of an order from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that upheld the denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) by Immigration Judge Margaret McManus. The BIA's decision was dated October 8, 2008, affirming the IJ's ruling from October 17, 2003. The court reviews the IJ’s decision as supplemented by the BIA and applies the substantial evidence standard for factual findings, while legal questions are reviewed de novo. Liu abandoned his CAT claim by not challenging the IJ’s denial on appeal or in his brief to the court. The court concluded that Liu failed to establish a nexus to a statutorily protected ground for his asylum and withholding of removal claims. The agency found that local officials' extortion and harassment of Liu were driven by economic motives and personal vendetta rather than political suppression. Liu did not provide evidence of public protests against these officials or complaints to higher authorities. Instead, he cooperated with them to protect his business and only ceased compliance due to financial hardship. Although Liu claimed to have verbally condemned government policies during encounters with officials, there was no indication that this was perceived as a political challenge. As a result, the agency determined that Liu did not demonstrate the necessary connection to a protected ground for his claims. Consequently, the petition for review is denied, and the motion for a stay of removal is dismissed as moot.