Zai Cheng Zhu v. Holder

12-3142 Zhu v. Holder BIA Zagzoug, IJ A099 488 506 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT SUMMARY ORDER RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL. 1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals 2 for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United 3 States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, 4 on the 1st day of November, two thousand thirteen. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 RALPH K. WINTER, 8 GUIDO CALABRESI, 9 PETER W. HALL, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _____________________________________ 12 13 ZAI CHENG ZHU, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 12-3142 17 NAC 18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 _____________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Oleh R. Tustaniwsky, New York, New 24 York. 25 26 FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant 27 Attorney General; Richard M. Evans, 28 Assistant Director; Christina Bechak 29 Parascandola, Trial Attorney, Office 30 of Immigration Litigation, United 31 States Department of Justice, 32 Washington, D.C. 1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 2 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby 3 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, that the petition for review 4 is DENIED. 5 Petitioner Zai Cheng Zhu, a native and citizen of 6 China, seeks review of a July 20, 2012, decision of the BIA 7 affirming a January 18, 2011, decision of Immigration Judge 8 (“IJ”) Randa Zagzoug, denying Zhu’s application for asylum, 9 withholding of removal and relief under the Convention 10 Against Torture (“CAT”). In re Zai Cheng Zhu, No. A099 488 11 506 (B.I.A. July 20, 2012), aff’g No. A099 488 506 (Immig. 12 Ct. N.Y. City July 20, 2012). We assume the parties’ 13 familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history 14 in this case. 15 Under the circumstances of this case, we review the 16 decisions of both the IJ and the BIA. See Ming Xia Chen v. 17 BIA, 435 F.3d 141, 144 (2d Cir. 2006). The applicable 18 standards of review are well-established. See 8 U.S.C. 19 § 1252(b)(4)(B); Yanqin Weng v. Holder, 562 F.3d 510, 513 20 (2d Cir. 2009). 21 Because, in his brief, Zhu explicitly abandons any 22 challenge to the denial of asylum and CAT relief, the only 23 issue before the Court is the agency's denial of withholding 2 1 of removal. Zhu argues that he is entitled to withholding 2 of removal based on his “other resistance” to China’s family 3 planning policy. See Shi Liang Lin v. U.S. Dep’t of 4 Justice, 494 F.3d 296, 309 (2d Cir. 2007). However, because 5 the Government correctly asserts that Zhu failed to exhaust 6 this argument before the BIA, we will not consider it. See 7 Lin Zhong v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 480 F.3d 104, 118–20 (2d 8 Cir.2007). Notably, Zhu does not address his failure to 9 exhaust this issue or suggest any reason that the Court 10 should review his arguments, despite having not raised them 11 before the BIA. 12 Zhu's other asserted grounds for withholding of removal 13 – his opposition to corruption in China and his political 14 activities in the United States – were raised in his appeal 15 to the BIA. The Government correctly argues, however, that, 16 before the BIA, Zhu contended only that he had met his 17 burden of proof, but did not challenge the IJ's findings 18 that his testimony was not credible and that he had failed 19 to provide corroborating evidence. Therefore, we will not 20 consider Zhu’s challenges to these findings. See id. 21 As the determinations that Zhu was not credible and had 22 failed to provide corroborating evidence were dispositive of 3 1 his claim for withholding of removal, see Chuilu Liu v. 2 Holder, 575 F.3d 193, 195 n.5 (2009) (noting that “a failure 3 to corroborate can suffice, without more, to support a 4 finding that an alien has not met his burden of proof”); 5 Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 156 (2d Cir. 2006) (finding 6 that “where a withholding claim is based on the very fact, 7 or set of facts, that the IJ found not to be credible . . . 8 an adverse credibility ruling will . . . preclude the 9 withholding claim”), and we “must decline to consider” these 10 unexhausted issues, Lin Zhong, 480 F.3d at 107 n.1, the 11 petition for review is denied. See Balachova v. Mukasey, 12 547 F.3d 374, 380 (2d Cir. 2008) (granting Government's 13 motion to dismiss petition for review where the petitioner 14 did not exhaust challenge to adverse credibility 15 determination that was dispositive of all claims). 16 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 17 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 18 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 19 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 20 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 21 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 4 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b). FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 5