NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0708n.06 No. 20-3196 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED FRAS ABDUL KAZEM AUDI, Dec 18, 2020 DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Petitioner, v. ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, APPEALS Respondent. BEFORE: CLAY, GIBBONS, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. CLAY, Circuit Judge. Fras Abdul Kazem Audi (“Audi”) filed a timely petition for review of the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the denial of his asylum application and application for withholding of removal. Audi claims that the BIA erred in (1) finding that he failed to file his asylum application within a reasonable period of time, pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4(a)(5), given the existence of extraordinary circumstances justifying the delay of his application, and in (2) denying his asylum application on the merits as he had suffered past persecution and faced the threat of future persecution based on his membership in a particular social group. For the reasons set forth below, we DENY his petition for review. BACKGROUND Fras Abdul Kazem Audi was born in Samawah, Iraq on May 24, 1979. He was raised as a Shi’a Muslim, which was the predominant religion of those individuals living in Samawah. His parents, three sisters, and one of his brothers live in Samawah, and his other brother lives in Jordan. Case No. 20-3196, Audi v. Barr From 1997 to 2000, Audi served in the Iraqi military pursuant to a mandatory three-year conscription, during which time he was stationed in Basra and worked as a cook. He did not engage in any combat while in the military. Further, while living in Iraq, he was never arrested, nor did he participate in any political party. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, a number of militias formed in Iraq. The first of several incidents in connection with these militias occurred in mid-October 2003, during which a militia made up of Sunni Muslims opened fire at the bus while Audi was on board. Several passengers were killed in this attack, but Audi was not harmed because he was able to hide behind one of the seats. After this incident, the Al-Mahdi Army, a group of Shi’a Muslims, threatened Audi that he would have to join the militia or else he would be killed. Despite numerous recruitment calls, Audi refused to join and fled to Syria, remaining there for two months on a visitor visa. Audi then returned to Iraq in January 2004, after his parents convinced him that United States troops in the country would help quell the instability in the area. But four days after his return, while on the way home from shopping at a market, Audi and his cousin, Hassan, were attacked by three masked men who tried to pull them into a car. Audi was able to flee, despite sustaining injuries while fighting the men off, but his cousin was pulled into the car and later beaten, tortured, and ...
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