Opinions of the United
2006 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
11-20-2006
Pui v. Atty Gen USA
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 05-3964
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"Pui v. Atty Gen USA" (2006). 2006 Decisions. Paper 175.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT
OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 05-3964
JOHAN PUI,
Petitioner
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals
No. A95-165-311
Immigration Judge: Hon. Rosalind K. Malloy
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
November 9, 2006
BEFORE: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, and McKEE and STAPLETON,
Circuit Judges
(Opinion Filed : November 20, 2006)
OPINION OF THE COURT
STAPLETON, Circuit Judge:
Johan Pui is a native and citizen of Indonesia. At his removal hearing, he
conceded removability but sought asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under
the Convention Against Torture. The IJ denied Pui’s applications. When the BIA
affirmed this decision, this timely petition for review followed. In this appeal, Pui
challenges only the ruling that he is not entitled to withholding of removal based upon his
“showing that both he and his family have been persecuted on behalf of their beliefs
[Christian] and ethnic background [Chinese] and that the situation in Indonesia” is such
that persecution would in all likelihood reoccur upon his return there.1 Appellant’s Br. at
3.
Pui’s claim of past ethnic and religious persecution in Indonesia rests primarily on
his testimony that (1) a mob of native Muslim Indonesians, rioting in a Chinese section of
Jakarta in May of 1998, forced their way into his father’s store, threw the merchandise
into the street, ripped off Pui’s pants and touched his buttocks, and ultimately burned the
1
The IJ denied Pui’s application for asylum as untimely, and the BIA agreed. We
would have no jurisdiction to review this determination. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3). Pui’s
briefing before us does not rely upon the Convention Against Torture.
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building to the ground, and (2) Pui’s Catholic church was also burned to the ground in
1998.
The BIA disposed of this claim in the following manner:
We agree with the Immigration Judge’s ultimate denial of the
respondent’s claim for withholding if removal, The respondent asserted
that he feared persecution, in part, because he is a Christian. Although the
respondent testified that his church in Indonesia was “burned” in 1998, (Tr.
at 29), he failed to mention this critical event in either of his written
statements or in his application. The respondent also testified that he had
attended a particular church in the United States every Sunday for some 3
years since he arrived, yet when asked the name of the church’s pastor he
replied, “Father, Indonesian guy, I forgot. See Tr. at 41-42. Immigration
Judge, expressly stated that he disbelieved the respondent’s assertion of
being Christian. Since the Immigration Judge found that the respondent’s
statements could not be believed, the Immigration Judge made an adverse
credibility finding. The Immigration Judge also discussed the respondent’s
lack of responsiveness to a number of questions; this further supports the
adverse credibility finding as the respondent was clearly evasive regarding
his reasons why he came to the United States. See Tr. at 30-34, 45, 53-56.
We find no clear error in the Immigration Judge’s determination that the
respondent lacked credibility. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)(3)(i), See generally,
Ambartsoumian v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 85, 93 (3d Cir. 2004). The
respondent’s lack of credibility implicates his entire claim, and the
respondent offered no corroboration of the church fire or of the fire he
claims that was set at his father’s store/house.
We also note that the respondent’s ethnic Chinese family members,
some of whom are Christian, have reportedly not experienced any
difficulties since the 1998 riots. While the respondent has shown that
ethnic Chinese Christians in Indonesia have experienced problems and
discrimination he has not shown that there is an actual “pattern or practice”
of persecution of similarly situated individuals. The facts of this case are
similar to those we considered in Matter of A-M-, 23 I&N Dec. 737 (BIA
2005), where we found no such pattern or practice in Indonesia. The
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, under whose
jurisdiction this case falls, has also rejected such a claim on similar facts as
presented to it. See Lie v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 530, 537-538, & n.4 (3d Cir.
2005). The evidence here also fails to reflect that the respondent would be
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“singled out” for persecution upon return. There is no indication that the
rioters or others have any particular interest in this individual respondent,
and he lived in Indonesia without difficulty for more than 2 years after the
1998 riots. The respondent has not shown that it is more likely than not his
life or freedom would be threatened upon return. See section 241(b)(3) of
the Act.
App. at 48 (footnotes omitted).
There is ample record support for the conclusion of the IJ and the BIA that Pui
lacked credibility. This fact, the fact that Pui remained in Indonesia for two years after
1998 without further incident, the fact that his family has remained in Indonesia without
any difficulties since 1998, and the fact that no “pattern and practice” of persecution
within the teachings of Lie v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 530 (3d Cir. 2005), has been shown
require that we deny Pui’s petition for review.
Given our decision in Lie and the BIA’s record supported ruling on Pui’s
credibility, each of his three arguments is either not relevant or without merit.
The petition for review will be denied.
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