NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 4 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ZIFENG LIU, No. 19-70648
Petitioner, Agency No. A202-195-689
v.
MEMORANDUM*
WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted July 10, 2020
Honolulu, Hawaii
Before: OWENS, FRIEDLAND, and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner Zifeng Liu seeks review of a final administrative order denying
his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the
Convention Against Torture (CAT). Liu argues that substantial evidence does not
support the agency’s adverse credibility determination and that he was not given
proper notice and opportunity to corroborate his claims under Ren v. Holder, 648
F.3d 1079 (9th Cir. 2011). We grant the petition for review with respect to Liu’s
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
asylum and withholding of removal claims and remand those claims to the agency,
and we deny the petition with respect to his CAT claim.
1. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) analyzed Liu’s credibility
based on a non-corroboration ground and lack-of-corroboration grounds.
Substantial evidence does not support the BIA’s analysis on the non-corroboration
ground—the lack of detail in Liu’s testimony about his father’s imprisonment.
Bhattarai v. Lynch, 835 F.3d 1037, 1043 (9th Cir. 2016) (“First, we separate out
the non-corroboration grounds for the adverse credibility determination and
evaluate whether the IJ and BIA’s determination is supported by substantial
evidence.”). Liu did not have personal knowledge about his father’s arrest because
it occurred after Liu fled from China. So Liu’s testimony that he could not provide
additional details because he did not know them was an explanation a reasonable
Immigration Judge would have been compelled to accept. See Rizk v. Holder, 629
F.3d 1083, 1087 (9th Cir. 2011).
2. Because substantial evidence does not support the non-corroboration
ground and Liu was otherwise credible, the agency was required to give Liu notice
and an opportunity to provide corroborative evidence regarding his father’s
imprisonment. Bhattarai, 835 F.3d at 1043 (“[I]f we overturn that determination,
and only issues regarding lack of corroboration remain, we next ask whether the IJ
satisfied Ren’s notice requirement.”). The agency did not do so here. Liu was told
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by the Immigration Judge at a master calendar hearing that he needed to provide
corroborative evidence. But that generic notice was insufficient because it was not
specific to the failings the agency identified in Liu’s testimony. Id. at 1043–44 (“If
the IJ did not provide the applicant notice of the specific corroborative evidence
that was required and an opportunity to provide it or explain why he cannot
reasonably obtain it, we remand for the IJ to give the applicant that opportunity.”
(emphasis added)).
3. Because the BIA’s denial of Liu’s asylum and withholding of removal
claims turned on the flawed adverse credibility determination, we grant the petition
with respect to those claims and remand to the BIA with instructions to remand to
the Immigration Judge so Liu has an opportunity to corroborate his testimony
about his father’s arrest with additional evidence.
4. The agency concluded, however, that even assuming Liu was credible,
he did not meet his burden of showing he was eligible for CAT relief. That
conclusion is supported by substantial evidence. The documentary evidence Liu
submitted states that “[i]n some places [in China], government supervision of
unsanctioned religious activity is minimal,” and that “many house churches . . . are
quietly tolerated by local authorities.” This evidence does not compel the
conclusion that Liu would more likely than not be tortured if returned to China.
We therefore deny the petition for review with respect to his CAT claim.
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PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN
PART; REMANDED.
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