FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 08 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
SVETA ARUTUNYAN, No. 07-73348
Petitioner, Agency No. A098-144-320
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted May 25, 2010 **
Before: CANBY, THOMAS, and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges.
Sveta Arutunyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the
Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing her appeal from an immigration
judge’s decision denying her application for asylum. We have jurisdiction under
8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence an adverse credibility
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
determination, Sidhu v. INS, 220 F.3d 1085, 1088 (9th Cir. 2000), and we deny the
petition for review.
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse credibility determination
based upon Arutunyan’s submission of a fraudulent birth certificate, see Desta v.
Ashcroft, 365 F.3d 741, 745 (9th Cir. 2004) (fraudulent documents going to the
heart of the claim may justify an adverse credibility finding), the omission from
Arutunyan’s testimony of election activities that according to her asylum
application led her 2003 beating and detention, see Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959,
962 (9th Cir. 2004), and Arutunyan’s misidentification of her party’s candidate
during the 2003 elections, see id. In the absence of credible testimony,
Arutunyan’s asylum claim fails. See Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156 (9th
Cir. 2003).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 07-73348