Gheorghe Vasile, a native and citizen of Romania, entered the United States without inspection on or about August 1, 2000. Almost three years later, on July 10, 2003, he filed an application for asylum, claiming that he was persecuted on account of his Roma ethnicity. On August 25, 2003, while his application was pending, the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued Vasile a Notice to Appear (NTA), charging him with removability based on his presence in the United States without being admitted or paroled. See INA § 212(a)(6)(A)®, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)®. During the removal proceedings, Vasile admitted the factual allegations contained in the NTA and conceded removability. Hoping to avoid that ultimate outcome, he requested that the Immigration Judge (IJ) consider his previously filed asylum application. In the alternative, Vasile applied for voluntary departure under INA § 240B(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1229c.
Without addressing the merits of his claim, the IJ determined that Vasile was ineligible for asylum for two reasons: first, he had filed his application more than one year after his date of arrival in the United States; and second, he had not demonstrated “changed circumstances” or “extraordinary circumstances” that might justify an extension of the deadline. See INA § 208(a)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2). The IJ recognized that Vasile was still eligible to request withholding of removal under INA § 241(b)(3), see 8 C.F.R. § 208.3(b), but the judge denied that relief because Vasile had not demonstrated a clear probability of persecution if he returned to Romania. Although Vasile did not request protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), adopted as federal law by section 2242(a) of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1988, 8 U.S.C. § 1231, the IJ nevertheless considered the potential CAT claim and found that Vasile did not qualify for relief. The IJ did, however, grant Vasile’s request for voluntary departure and ordered him to depart the United States by June 21, 2004. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the IJ’s decision in all respects.
Before this court, Vasile has abandoned his request for withholding of removal and relief under the CAT by failing to raise them in his opening brief. See
Lin v.
*768
Ashcroft,
We conclude that we cannot review the BIA’s denial of his asylum claim, even in light of the changes in the judicial review provisions contained in the REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 231, 310-11 (2005). That statute, as we recently noted in
Ramos v. Gonzales,
Thus, just as in
Gattem
(and unlike
Ramos,
where the petitioner was presenting constitutional due process claims), Vasile must still contend with INA § 208(a)(3), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3), which says that “[n]o court shall have jurisdiction to review any determination of the Attorney General under [§ 208(a)(2)].” See
Zaidi v. Ashcroft, 377
F.3d 678, 681 (7th Cir.2004) (holding that the statute’s language clearly evinces Congress’s intent to preclude judicial review of agency action under § 208(a)(3));
Nigussie v. Ashcroft,
It is easy enough to see why this jurisdictional bar, even as qualified by the REAL ID Act, prevents us from reviewing the BIA’s factual determination about when Vasile filed his asylum claim. Vasile’s effort to show that he should have received an extension because of his stress and alcoholism problems is similarly beyond our reach. INA § 208(a)(2)(D) states that “[a]n application for asylum of an alien may be considered ... if the alien demonstrates
to the satisfaction
of the Attorney General either the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant’s eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing an application within the [one-year] period.”
Id.
(emphasis added). Permissive language that refers to demonstrating something to the agency’s “satisfaction” is inherently discretionary. At least one court has formally characterized it as such. See
Castellano-Chacon v. INS,
Accordingly, the petition for review is Dismissed for want of jurisdiction.