BETTY CAROL CABE, AKA Elizabeth Cabe Baez, AKA Elizabeth Carol Cabebaez, AKA… v. ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent*
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BETTY CAROL CABE, AKA Elizabeth
Cabe Baez, AKA Elizabeth Carol
Cabebaez, AKA Elizabeth Duran,
Petitioner,
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 09-70767
Agency No. A031-102-359
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted October 11, 2011
San Francisco, California
Before: B. FLETCHER, REINHARDT, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges.
Elizabeth “Betty” Cabe, a native of Thailand, petitions for review of the
Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision dismissing her appeal. Cabe appealed the
Immigration Judge’s denial of her motion to terminate proceedings, and denial of
her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the
FILED
OCT 25 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U .S. C OU R T OF APPE ALS

-- 1 of 3 --

Page 2 of 3
Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. §
1252(b)(5)(A). We deny the petition for review.
First, Cabe argues that she is a United States citizen. Cabe was born in
Thailand on August 25, 1966. Cabe’s mother, who was a Thai citizen, listed an
American member of the armed forces as Cabe’s father on the birth certificate.
Cabe's father left Thailand before her birth, and since then neither Cabe nor any
member of her family has ever contacted him. Cabe’s mother later married a
different American serviceman. Cabe’s step-father adopted Cabe and her siblings,
and in 1972 he brought her into the United States as a lawful permanent resident.
Cabe’s primary argument on appeal is that she automatically acquired
citizenship through her step-father. Cabe argues that under these facts she meets
the statutory requirements for automatic citizenship under the Child Citizenship
Act of 2000 ("CCA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1431. In Hughes v. Ashcroft, 255 F.3d 752, 760
(9th Cir. 2001), however, we held that "the CCA granted automatic citizenship
only to those children who were under the age of 18, and who met the other
criteria, on February 27, 2001," the effective date of the CCA. Cabe was 34 years
old when the CCA became effective. Cabe attempts to avoid this limitation on the
reach of the CCA by arguing that Hughes was wrongly decided and that Congress
intended the CCA to apply retroactively. But we are bound by the earlier

-- 2 of 3 --

Page 3 of 3
precedential decision of this court. Because Cabe was 34 years old on February
27, 2001, she cannot derive citizenship under the CCA.
We also reject Cabe’s arguments that she is eligible for asylum, withholding
of removal, and relief under CAT. Cabe’s conviction for an aggravated felony bars
her from asylum relief. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2). And while she suffers from bi-
polar disease, suffers seizures as a result of domestic violence, and her entire
family is located in the United States, Cabe has presented no evidence that compels
the conclusion that she would be subject to persecution or torture in Thailand on
the basis of her Amer-Asian ethnicity or her medical issues. See Bromfield v.
Mukasey, 543 F.3d 1071, 1076, 1079 (9th Cir. 2008).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

-- 3 of 3 --