USCA11 Case: 20-13776 Date Filed: 08/20/2021 Page: 1 of 32 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-13776 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A209-154-612 SUKHDEV SINGH, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (August 20, 2021) Before NEWSOM, ANDERSON, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 20-13776 Date Filed: 08/20/2021 Page: 2 of 32 Petitioner Sukhdev Singh, a native and citizen of India, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). Petitioner claimed that he was a member of the Shiromoni Akali Dal Amritsar Simranjit Singh Mann Party (“Mann Party”), a political party that he described as opposing the use of drugs and alcohol and advocating for a state of its own, known as “Khalistan.” Petitioner further claimed that, as a member of the Mann Party, he would be persecuted by members of two ruling political parties in India, namely, the Akali Dal Badal Party (“Badal Party”) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP Party”). The IJ, however, denied Petitioner’s application for relief, finding that he had neither testified credibly nor adequately corroborated his claims. On appeal to the BIA, Petitioner argued both that the IJ had clearly erred in its findings and that the IJ had deprived him of his due process rights by failing to act impartially. The BIA rejected Petitioner’s due process challenge and affirmed the IJ’s credibility and corroboration findings. On appeal, Petitioner argues that he did not receive a fair hearing before the IJ, that substantial evidence did not support the agency’s adverse credibility and corroboration findings, and that the BIA applied the wrong standard in denying his 2 USCA11 Case: 20-13776 Date Filed: 08/20/2021 Page: 3 of 32 CAT claim. After careful review, we are unpersuaded by Petitioner’s arguments. Accordingly, we deny his petition for review. I. BACKGROUND Petitioner entered the United States near Calexico, California in July 2016. Because Petitioner expressed fear of returning to India, an asylum officer placed him under oath and conducted a credible-fear interview through a Punjabi interpreter. During the interview, Petitioner stated that that he had traveled through Ethiopia, Brazil, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico on his way to the United States. Petitioner described himself as a member of the Mann Party 1 who had participated in party programs and helped arrange events. According to Petitioner, in an attempt to force him to leave his political party, members of the BJP and Badal Parties had attacked and beaten him three times between January 13, 2016 and March 29, 2016. He described an attack on January 13, 2016, when eight men beat him with a baseball bat before fleeing in a vehicle marked with a Badal Party insignia. …
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