In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 18‐2334 EL HADJ HAMIDOU BARRY, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A205‐830‐004. ____________________ ARGUED NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — DECIDED FEBRUARY 22, 2019 ____________________ Before BAUER, BRENNAN, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge. El Hadj Hamidou Barry, a native and citizen of Guinea, applied for deferral of his removal from the United States under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. An immigration judge denied Barry’s appli‐ cation because Barry failed to show if removed to Guinea he likely would be tortured. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. Barry now petitions this court for review, claiming 2 No. 18‐2334 if removed to Guinea he will be tortured because of his political and familial affiliations and his sexual orientation. Barry has failed to satisfy his burden to substantiate these claims with evidence, so we deny his petition. I. Barry was born and grew up in Guinea. His father was a member of the Union for New Republic (“UNR”), an opposition political party in Guinea during the 1990s. In the past, the Guinean government—controlled by the ruling political party at that time—took drastic measures to locate Barry’s father and prevent his political activities. Barry testi‐ fied at his immigration hearing that Guinean soldiers showed up at his home when he was eight years old, stabbed him in the thigh with a machete, and threatened to cut off his leg to elicit his father’s whereabouts from his mother. When his mother did not comply, the soldiers beat her, too. Barry’s mother testified before the immigration judge in support of Barry’s application for deferral under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), reiterating the incident with the soldiers as Barry described it. Barry is no longer in touch with his father and has no current affiliation with any Guinean political party, including the UNR. Moreover, a different political party with a new president is now in power in Guinea. In 1998, shortly after the incident with the soldiers, Barry and his mother left Guinea and arrived in the United States. Barry was admitted as a temporary visitor. Having never returned to Guinea, he is now thirty years old and has been living in the United States for over twenty years. Around 2009, Barry committed various crimes, including robbery, controlled substances offenses, and possession of a firearm. No. 18‐2334 3 He was convicted and sentenced for an aggravated felony conviction of conspiracy to commit robbery. The Department of Homeland Security issued Barry a Final Administrative Removal Order under 8 U.S.C. § 1228(b) based on his felony conviction. Barry applied for deferral of removal under Article 3 of CAT, 8 C.F.R. § 1208.17.1 He also sought and was afforded a reasonable fear interview with an asylum officer. During the interview, he expressed fear of being tortured if returned to Guinea due to his father’s past political ...
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