Case: 19-60150 Document: 00515458439 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/19/2020 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 19-60150 June 19, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce BIKRAMJIT SINGH, also known as Bikram Thapa, Clerk Petitioner, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. Petition for Review of the Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A208 564 791 Before SMITH, HO, and OLDHAM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Bikramjit Singh petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) order affirming the denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Singh claims his application should have been granted because he was beaten up by rival political party members in India. We deny his petition. Singh is a Sikh. He lived in the Punjab State of India. While in India, Singh joined the Mann Party, a political party that “works for the Sikh people” * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 19-60150 Document: 00515458439 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/19/2020 No. 19-60150 and advocates for an autonomous Sikh state of Khalistan. As a Mann Party member, Singh served food, set up chairs at events, collected funds, and put up party posters. One day he was hanging up posters when members of the Badal Party— a political party in coalition with the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP”)—told him to stop. Singh refused, so the Badal Party members beat him with a wooden stick until he lost consciousness. He was brought home, and a village doctor saw him. He had swelling in his shoulder and the back of his legs for five to six days. He took pain medication and soon recovered. A couple of months later, Singh says he was again beaten up by Badal Party members. They demanded he leave the Mann Party and threatened to kill him if he did not stop working for the party. Singh again went to a local doctor and received pain medicine. He was not “hurt . . . that much” from this attack, and the swelling in his head and legs subsided after three to four days. Following this attack, Singh stayed with a family friend in a nearby village for forty-five to fifty days with no incident. Singh arrived in the United States without valid documentation. The government commenced removal proceedings. Conceding his removability, Singh applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) found Singh to be a credible witness and took Singh’s testimony to be true. Even so, the IJ denied his asylum application. Although “reprehensible,” the two beatings by the Badal Party members “d[id] not rise to the level of harm requisite for [past] persecution.” Further, Singh could not show a well-founded fear of future persecution because ...
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