NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MAY 06 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
HARBHAJAN SINGH, JASLIN KAUR, No. 10-71150
and INDERPREET KAUR,
Agency No. A079-279-475
Petitioners, Agency No. A079-279-476
Agency No. A072-403-851
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, MEMORANDUM*
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted April 10, 2014**
San Francisco, California
Before: SCHROEDER and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges, and PRATT, Senior
District Judge.***
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
On March 28, 2014, the Court granted Petitioners’ “Motion to Submit
the Case on Briefs without Oral Arguments.”
***
The Honorable Robert W. Pratt, Senior United States District Judge
for the Southern District of Iowa, sitting by designation.
Petitioners Harbhajan Singh (“Singh”) and his two daughters, Jaslin Kaur
and Inderpreet Kaur,1 (collectively “Petitioners”2) appeal the decision of the Board
of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying their application for asylum, withholding
of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).3 We
have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny the petition.
Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility determination
with regard to Singh. See Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039–40 (9th Cir.
2010). The agency identified several inconsistencies that went to the “heart of . . .
[Singh’s] asylum claim,” and concluded that he was adversely credible.4 See Li v.
Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 962 (9th Cir. 2004) (“An adverse credibility ruling will be
upheld so long as identified inconsistencies go to the heart of [the] asylum claim.”
(alteration in original ) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted)). In
1
Singh’s daughters are listed as beneficiaries on the asylum
application. Thus, whether they are granted asylum, withholding of removal, or
relief under the Convention Against Torture depends entirely on the success of
Singh’s claim for relief.
2
Petitioners are natives and citizens of India.
3
The BIA also denied Petitioners’ request for a voluntary departure.
We need not, however, decide whether this denial was proper since Petitioners did
not raise the issue on appeal.
4
The REAL ID Act is inapplicable to this case as Petitioners’
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT was
filed prior to May 11, 2005.
2
particular, the BIA noted that Singh claimed he had been the victim of persecution
in India during a time when he and his family were actually living in Canada. He
was also untruthful with the U.S. immigration authorities by failing to disclose that
he and his family had lived in Canada and applied for asylum there, even though
during a September 5, 2001 interview with an asylum officer, Singh was
specifically asked whether he had ever lived in Canada. Importantly, the alleged
history of persecution contained in Singh’s Canadian asylum application was
different from the one recounted in his U.S. asylum application. Although Singh
ultimately admitted that his U.S. asylum application contained false information
and made the necessary corrections, this admission was untimely as it occurred
more than five years after the filing of the application. For these reasons, we
affirm the BIA’s finding that Singh was not credible.
Since Singh did not satisfy the less demanding burden of showing asylum
eligibility, we must also conclude that he failed to shoulder the more stringent clear
probability standard applicable to his withholding of removal claim. See Farah v.
Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156 (9th Cir. 2003). As for Singh’s CAT claim, it must
also be rejected as it was based on the same evidence that the BIA concluded was
insufficient to establish Petitioner’s asylum eligibility. See id. at 1157.
Accordingly, the petition is DENIED.
3