UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ NIKOLAY M. KOLOV, │ Petitioner, │ > No. 22-3760 │ v. │ │ MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘

On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A 077 003 118.

Decided and Filed: August 18, 2023

Before: GIBBONS, LARSEN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

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COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Michael E. Piston, PISTON AND CARPENTER P.C., Troy, Michigan, for Petitioner. Jeffery R. Leist, Anthony C. Payne, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

GIBBONS, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which LARSEN and MURPHY, JJ., joined. MURPHY, J. (pp. 15–25), delivered a separate concurring opinion. _________________

OPINION _________________

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Nikolay Kolov, a native and citizen of Bulgaria, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). The BIA upheld the IJ’s determination that Kolov did not No. 22-3760 Kolov v. Garland Page 2

present a credible claim because parts of his testimony before the IJ were not disclosed in his reasonable fear interview, written application, or supporting declaration. Because the BIA’s decision contains no legal error, we deny the petition for review.

I.

Nikolay Kolov first sought admission to the United States in 1999. He was placed in removal proceedings but sought asylum and related protections. After he failed to credibly demonstrate eligibility for protection, Kolov was ordered removed. The BIA denied Kolov’s appeal, and we denied his petition for review. Kolov was removed to Bulgaria in February 2012.

In November 2014, Kolov reentered the United States and was apprehended by DHS. Kolov’s prior removal order was reinstated, but he expressed fear about returning to Bulgaria. Consequently, he was interviewed in January 2015 to determine whether he reasonably feared persecution in Bulgaria. In this interview, Kolov indicated that he was a member of the “Roma” ethnic group. CA6 R. 7-2, Reasonable Fear Questions & Answers, Admin R. 578, 581. Based on his ethnicity, Kolov reported that he had been subjected to harassment, abuse, and physical violence in Bulgaria.

To illustrate his claim, Kolov recounted several incidents of such treatment. He recalled that government officials made derogatory comments about his ethnicity at the airport when he returned to Bulgaria in 2012. Kolov also reported that in September 2014, two men recognized him as Roma and attacked him while he waited in line to pay for breakfast. The assailants hit Kolov, causing him to fall to the ground, and the men then repeatedly kicked him. Kolov noted that police officers were standing nearby when the attack happened and did not intervene or render aid, so he did not report the incident because he believed that the poli