Case: 19-10688 Date Filed: 04/17/2020 Page: 1 of 15 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-10688 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A216-269-506 PRAGASH VELAUTHAM, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (April 17, 2020) Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, MARTIN, and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Pragash Velautham, a native and citizen of Sri Lanka, petitions for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal from an Case: 19-10688 Date Filed: 04/17/2020 Page: 2 of 15 Immigration Judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and withholding of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. I. Velautham applied for admission to the United States at a port of entry in November 2017 without valid entry documents. That same month, he gave a sworn statement to an asylum officer stating that he had been threatened in Sri Lanka by an unidentified person, but he had never been physically harmed while in Sri Lanka. The Department of Homeland Security issued him a notice to appear, which charged that he was removable because he applied for admission without an entry document. At a removal hearing in March 2018, Velautham, represented by counsel, conceded removability. Velautham applied for asylum under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a), withholding of removal under the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3), and withholding of removal under CAT, 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c). He submitted personal documents, articles, and country reports in support of his applications. Those applications stated that he had experienced mistreatment or threats due to being ethnically Tamil and that he had aided a demonstration for the Tamil people to get their land and houses back from the Sri Lankan Army. They also claimed the Army came to his house when he was away and threatened his family. And they said another protest leader was 2 Case: 19-10688 Date Filed: 04/17/2020 Page: 3 of 15 killed by the Army, the Army had mistreated Velautham, and he feared being tortured by the government if returned to Sri Lanka. He also stated in his applications that after the Army had threatened him, when he and a friend had finished playing soccer and were walking home, two people on a motorbike came up and one of them hit him with a helmet, causing him to fall down. He and his friend tried to run away but the attackers stopped them and threatened to kill them if they participated in another demonstration. He claimed the people who threatened him had “guns in their hands.” At a merits hearing in July 2018, Velautham testified in support of his applications. He claimed that inconsistencies in his answers, such as stating in his November 2017 asylum interview that he was not attacked and then saying otherwise in his asylum application, were caused by translation and interpreter issues. He also ...
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