NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 18a0376n.06 Nos. 16-4150/17-3346/17-3747 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jul 26, 2018 REMON SAMIR WELSON, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General, ) APPEALS ) Respondent. ) ) BEFORE: ROGERS and BUSH, Circuit Judges; WATSON, District Judge.* ROGERS, Circuit Judge. Remon Welson is a Coptic Christian, a member of a religious group comprising roughly ten percent of Egypt’s population. In 2015, he traveled from Egypt to the United States and sought asylum and withholding of removal on the basis of his Coptic Christian religion. An immigration judge denied his applications, concluding that he was not credible and that he had not demonstrated a well-founded fear of persecution in Egypt, a precondition for either form of relief. Welson appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and also filed numerous motions to have his proceedings remanded, reopened, or reconsidered. The Board denied all these motions and denied relief. In this appeal, Welson principally argues that the Board should not have denied his various motions to reopen or reconsider because they were * The Honorable Michael H. Watson, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation. Nos. 16-4150/17-3346/17-3747 Welson v. Sessions supported by new evidence of violence against Egyptian Coptic Christians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and that this additional evidence demonstrated that Welson now qualifies for relief from removal. However, because Welson’s additional evidence—mostly consisting of news articles—did not show conditions that were materially different from those described in the documents considered by the immigration judge, the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying his motions to reopen or reconsider. Welson, a native and citizen of Egypt, arrived in the United States at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on October 10, 2015. Immigration officials determined that he was not in possession of a valid entry document, and the Government initiated removal proceedings on October 27, 2015. Welson appeared before an immigration judge (“IJ”) with counsel on December 10, 2015, and conceded removability. The IJ designated Egypt as the country of removal, and Welson filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the U.N. Convention Against Torture. An individual hearing was held before the IJ on February 2, 2016, and February 17, 2016. Welson testified that he is a Coptic Christian who has lived his whole life in Sohag, Egypt, in a home with his mother and younger brother. He testified that, in 2013, members of the Muslim Brotherhood burned down the cathedral at which he worshipped; that unknown persons had twice smashed his car window to remove a cross from within; and that the door to his home had been marked with a symbol indicating that it would be burned (although to this day it has not actually been the target of arson). The focus of Welson’s testimony, however, ...
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