The Eighth Circuit has denied a petition for review from a Gambian national who overstayed a student visa and sought asylum, humanitarian asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Immigration Judge found that he had suffered past persecution but held that the government rebutted the resulting presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution, and the Board affirmed in a short decision.
The court held that substantial evidence supported the finding of a fundamental change in circumstances, pointing to the Barrow government's reforms, the removal of senior officials from the Jammeh era, a truth and reconciliation commission, relaxed speech restrictions, and the return of exiles. Outstanding arrest warrants and isolated arrests of protesters did not compel a different result. The court denied humanitarian asylum because the mistreatment, though "deplorable," was not "particularly atrocious," held that withholding and CAT relief fail where asylum fails on the same evidence, and declined to consider voluntary departure and burden-shifting arguments that were not exhausted before the Board.
The full text of Jatta v. Blanche can be found here: https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/26/10/243033P.pdf