Hok Tjoen Tjiang v. Holder

10-3770-ag Tjiang v. Holder BIA Morace, IJ A097 701 726 A094 813 659 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 21st day of November, two thousand eleven. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 ROBERT D. SACK, 8 RICHARD C. WESLEY, 9 SUSAN L. CARNEY, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _______________________________________ 12 13 HOK TJOEN TJIANG, KIM LIEN TJIANG, 14 Petitioners, 15 16 v. 10-3770-ag 17 NAC 18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 _______________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONERS: Oleh R. Tustaniwsky, Brooklyn, New 24 York. 25 26 FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney 27 General; John S. Hogan, Senior 28 Litigation Counsel; Edward E. 29 Wiggers, Trial Attorney, Office of 30 Immigration Litigation, United 31 States Department of Justice, 32 Washington, D.C. 1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 2 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), it is 3 hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, that the petition for 4 review is DENIED. 5 Hok Tjoen Tjiang and Kim Lien Tjiang, natives and 6 citizens of Indonesia, seek review of an August 23, 2010, 7 decision of the BIA affirming the January 14, 2009, decision 8 of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Philip Morace denying their 9 applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief 10 under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In re Hok 11 Tjoen Tjiang, Kim Lien Tjiang, Nos. A097 701 726, A094 813 12 659 (B.I.A. Aug. 23, 2010), aff’g Nos. A097 701 726, A094 13 813 659 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Jan. 14, 2009). We assume the 14 parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and 15 procedural history of this case. 16 Under the circumstances of this case, we review both 17 the IJ’s and the BIA’s opinions “for the sake of 18 completeness.” Zaman v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 233, 237 (2d Cir. 19 2008)(quoting Wangchuck v. DHS, 448 F.3d 524, 528 (2d Cir. 20 2006)). The applicable standards of review are well- 21 established. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4); Aliyev v. Mukasey, 22 549 F.3d 111, 115 (2d Cir. 2008). Petitioners’ sole 23 argument before this Court is that the agency erred in 2 1 denying them asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief 2 because they established a pattern or practice of 3 persecution against Chinese Christians in Indonesia. 4 To establish eligibility for asylum or withholding of 5 removal, an applicant need not “provide evidence that there 6 is a reasonable possibility he or she would be singled out 7 individually for persecution if . . . [t]he applicant 8 establishes that there is a pattern or practice in his or 9 her country of nationality . . . of persecution of a group 10 of persons similarly situated to the applicant.” 8 C.F.R. 11 § 1208.13(b)(2)(iii); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(2)(i). 12 The BIA has found time and again that there is no such 13 pattern or practice of persecution against Chinese 14 Christians in Indonesia, see, e.g., Matter of A-M-, 23 I. & 15 N. Dec. 737, 741 (BIA 2005), and we have found no error in 16 those decisions where the agency explicitly addresses the 17 applicant’s pattern or practice of persecution claim, see, 18 e.g., Santoso v. Holder, 580 F.3d 110, 112 (2d Cir. 2009). 19 Likewise, based on the record in this case, the agency did 20 not err in determining that petitioners failed to establish 21 a pattern or practice of persecution against Chinese 22 Christians in Indonesia. Indeed, the agency reasonably 23 found that although Chinese Christians face incidents of 3 1 harm, particularly by non-state actors, the record did not 2 establish that there is systemic persecution of that group. 3 See Santoso, 580 F.3d at 112; see also Matter of A-M-, 23 I. 4 & N. Dec. at 741-42. 5 Because the BIA reasonably determined that petitioners 6 failed to establish a well-founded fear of persecution based 7 on a pattern or practice of persecution against Chinese 8 Christians in Indonesia, it did not err in denying asylum, 9 withholding of removal, and CAT relief to the extent those 10 forms of relief were based on that claim. See 8 C.F.R. 11 § 1208.13(b)(2)(iii); 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(2)(i); see also 12 Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 156 (2d Cir. 2006). 13 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 14 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 15 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 16 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 17 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 18 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 19 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2) and Second 20 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b). 21 FOR THE COURT: 22 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 4