Bang Zhu v. Holder

12-4711 Zhu v. Holder BIA Zagzoug, IJ A089 278 508 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 6th day of August, two thousand fourteen. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 ROSEMARY S. POOLER, 8 RICHARD C. WESLEY, 9 CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _____________________________________ 12 13 BANG ZHU, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 12-4711 17 NAC 18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 _____________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Troy Nader Moslemi, New York, New 24 York. 25 26 FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney 27 General; James A. Hunolt, Senior 28 Litigation Counsel; Jesse Lloyd 29 Busen, Trial Attorney, Office of 30 Immigration Litigation, U.S. 31 Department of Justice, Washington 32 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 Bang Zhu, a native and citizen of the 6 People’s Republic of China, seeks review of a November 6, 7 2012, decision of the BIA, affirming the November 1, 2010, 8 decision of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Randa Zagzoug, denying 9 Zhu’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and 10 relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In re 11 Bang Zhu, No. A089 278 508 (B.I.A. Nov. 6, 2012), aff’g No. 12 A089 278 508 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Nov. 1, 2010). We assume 13 the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and 14 procedural history in this case. 15 Under the circumstances of this case, we have reviewed 16 both the IJ’s and the BIA’s opinions “for the sake of 17 completeness.” Zaman v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 233, 237 (2d Cir. 18 2008). The applicable standards of review are well- 19 established. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see also Xiu Xia 20 Lin v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 162, 165-66 (2d Cir. 2008). For 21 asylum applications governed by the REAL ID Act, the agency 22 may, considering the totality of the circumstances, base a 2 1 credibility finding on inconsistencies in the asylum 2 applicant’s statements and other record evidence without 3 regard to whether they go “to the heart of the applicant’s 4 claim.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii); Xiu Xia Lin, 534 5 F.3d at 163-64. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s 6 determination that Zhu was not credible. 7 In finding her not credible, the IJ reasonably relied 8 on Zhu’s inconsistent statements regarding whether she 9 distributed religious flyers prior to fleeing police in 10 China, whether anyone accompanied her to the airport upon 11 her departure from that country, and when she last contacted 12 her friend who introduced her to Christianity. See 8 U.S.C. 13 § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii); Xiu Xia Lin, 534 F.3d at 163-64. Zhu 14 failed to provide compelling explanations for the 15 discrepancies in the record. See Majidi v. Gonzales, 430 16 F.3d 77, 80 (2d Cir. 2005). 17 Given the inconsistency findings, the agency’s adverse 18 credibility determination is supported by substantial 19 evidence, and was dispositive of Zhu’s claims for asylum, 20 withholding of removal, and CAT relief. See Xiu Xia Lin, 21 534 F.3d at 167; see also Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 22 156-57 (2d Cir. 2006). 23 3 1 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 2 DENIED. 3 FOR THE COURT: 4 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 5 6 7 4