Guo Man Wang v. Board of Immigration Appeals

09-1969-ag Wang v. BIA BIA Sichel, IJ A094 813 829 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 Daniel Patrick Moynihan 3 United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of 4 New York, on the 2 nd day of March, two thousand ten. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 RALPH K. WINTER, 8 ROBERT A. KATZMANN, 9 PETER W. HALL, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 ______________________________________ 12 13 GUO MAN WANG, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 09-1969-ag 17 NAC 18 19 BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS, 20 Respondent. 21 ______________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Pro Se 24 25 FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney 26 General; James A. Hunolt, Senior 27 Litigation Counsel; Margaret A. 28 O’Donnell, Trial Attorney, Office of 29 Immigration Litigation, United 30 States Department of Justice, 31 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 Guo Man Wang, a native and citizen of the People’s 6 Republic of China, seeks review of an April 9, 2009, order 7 of the BIA affirming the December 6, 2007, decision of 8 Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Helen J. Sichel, which denied 9 Wang’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and 10 relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In re 11 Guo Man Wang, No. A094 813 829 (BIA Apr. 9, 2009), aff’g No. 12 A094 813 829 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Dec. 6, 2007). 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 review the 16 IJ’s decision including the portions not explicitly 17 discussed by the BIA. Yun-Zui Guan v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 18 391, 394 (2d Cir. 2005). The applicable standards of review 19 are well-established. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); Xiu Xia 20 Lin v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 162, 167 (2d Cir. 2008); Bah v. 21 Mukasey, 529 F.3d 99, 110 (2d Cir. 2008). 22 Substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse 23 credibility determination. See Xiu Xia Lin, 534 F.3d at 2 1 167. The IJ found that Wang was not credible based on: (1) 2 his inconsistent testimony about his wife’s affidavit; (2) 3 his inconsistent testimony regarding his knowledge of the 4 Democratic Party in China; (3) his lack of knowledge about 5 the pro-democracy group he claimed to be involved with in 6 China; (4) his failure to mention his alleged beating in his 7 initial asylum application; (5) his inconsistent testimony 8 about the nature of his injuries; and (6) his inconsistent 9 testimony about the hospital he claimed he went to after the 10 beating he allegedly endured. In his brief, Wang argues 11 that the IJ’s credibility finding was erroneous because she 12 relied on minor inconsistencies that did not go to the heart 13 of his claim. Contrary to Wang’s argument, under the REAL 14 ID Act, which applied to Wang’s application for relief, “an 15 IJ may rely on any inconsistency or omission in making an 16 adverse credibility determination as long as the ‘totality 17 of the circumstances’ establishes that an asylum applicant 18 is not credible.” Xiu Xia Lin, 534 F.3d at 167 (emphasis in 19 original); see 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii); see also 20 Matter of J-Y-C-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 260, 265 (BIA 2007) 21 (finding that “the REAL ID Act no longer requires the trier 22 of fact to find a nexus between inconsistencies and the 23 ‘heart of the claim’”). Moreover, no reasonable fact finder 24 would have been compelled to credit Wang’s explanations for 3 1 the discrepancies the IJ identified. See Majidi v. 2 Gonzales, 430 F.3d 77, 80-81 (2d Cir. 2005). Accordingly, 3 the IJ’s adverse credibility determination was supported by 4 substantial evidence. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii), 5 1252(b)(4)(B). 6 Because Wang’s claims were all based on the same 7 factual predicate, the agency’s denial of his application 8 for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief was 9 proper. See Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 156 (2d Cir. 10 2006). 11 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 12 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 13 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 14 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 15 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 16 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 17 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second 18 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b). 19 FOR THE COURT: 20 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 21 22 4