United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 18-1526 ___________________________ Yonis Ahmed Ali lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: March 13, 2019 Filed: May 17, 2019 ____________ Before SHEPHERD, ARNOLD, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ ARNOLD, Circuit Judge. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security charged Yonis Ahmed Ali with being removable for failing to possess a valid entry document, see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I), and for obtaining an immigration benefit by fraud or material misrepresentation, see id. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i). The Immigration Judge sustained both charges, and, to stave off removal, Ali petitioned for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. He said he feared returning to his native Somalia because of his tribal affiliation and his adoptive father's political beliefs. After finding him not credible, the IJ denied his petition—a decision the Board of Immigration Appeals and our court upheld. See Ali v. Holder, 686 F.3d 534 (8th Cir. 2012). More than five years after we denied Ali's petition for review, he moved the BIA to reopen his removal proceedings on the ground that he feared the Somali terrorist organization, Al-Shabaab. He maintained that Al-Shabaab would likely target him when he returns because he is a moderate, Westernized Muslim with a post-graduate degree who has worked in American local government. Generally speaking, an alien may file one motion to reopen removal proceedings within ninety days of the entry of a final administrative order of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A), (C)(i). An alien may nonetheless move to reopen after the ninety-day mark if the motion "is based on changed country conditions arising in the country of nationality or the country to which removal has been ordered." Id. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). The BIA denied Ali's motion to reopen, noting that he had not shown why he did not raise his concerns about Al-Shabaab at his March 2010 hearing, especially since counsel represented him and since Al-Shabaab had existed since 2006 and had been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in 2008. The BIA emphasized that the State Department's 2009 Country Report on Somalia detailed that Al-Shabaab violence had caused the deaths of civilian, moderate Muslims. Ali petitions our court for review of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen, maintaining that the BIA abused its discretion by failing to give a reasoned decision. He asserts that the BIA failed to consider the ample evidence he submitted showing -2- Al-Shabaab's burgeoning power and its 2014 tactical shift toward targeting civilians like him who were Westernized, moderate Muslims. Ali also contends that requiring him to demonstrate changed circumstances in the country designated for removal, as opposed to changes in his personal circumstances, to reopen his proceedings out of time violates his rights to due process and equal protection. As an initial matter, we must determine ...
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