Ming Can Wang v. Holder

11-5036 BIA Wang v. Holder A075 969 598 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 20th day of September, two thousand twelve. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 RALPH K. WINTER, 8 JOSEPH M. McLAUGHLIN, 9 PETER W. HALL, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 12 13 MING CAN WANG, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 11-5036 17 NAC 18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Peter D. Lobel, New York, New York. 24 25 FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant 26 Attorney General; Leslie McKay, 27 Assistant Director; Kelly J. Walls, 28 Trial Attorney, Office of 29 Immigration Litigation, Civil 30 Division, United States Department 31 of Justice, 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 Petitioner Ming Can Wang, a native and citizen of the 6 People’s Republic of China, seeks review of a November 3, 7 2011 decision of the BIA denying his motion to reopen. In 8 re Ming Can Wang, No. A075 969 598 (B.I.A. Nov. 3, 2011). 9 We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts 10 and procedural history in this case. 11 We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for 12 abuse of discretion. Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 233 (2d 13 Cir. 2005) (per curiam). Because Wang did not become a 14 Christian until after he left China and did not allege past 15 persecution on account of his Christian faith, in order to 16 demonstrate his prima facie eligibility for relief, he was 17 required to show a realistic chance that Chinese authorities 18 were either aware or likely to become aware of his religious 19 activities. See Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138, 168 20 (2d Cir. 2008); see also Hongsheng Leng v. Mukasey, 528 F.3d 21 135, 142 (2d Cir. 2008) (per curiam). Wang did not 22 establish a realistic chance that Chinese authorities would 23 become aware of his religious activities, based on the 2 1 background evidence in the administrative record. That 2 evidence shows that Chinese authorities interfered only with 3 several large house churches. See Hongsheng Leng, 528 F.3d 4 at 142. Wang also did not establish a realistic chance that 5 Chinese authorities would become aware of his religious 6 activities, based on a letter submitted by his cousin, which 7 indicates that two underground church members were arrested 8 in China. The letter does not show that Wang is either 9 likely to be targeted for persecution or that there exists a 10 pattern or practice of persecution of similarly situated 11 individuals. Id.; accord 8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.13(b)(2)(iii) 12 (asylum), 1208.16(b)(2)(i) (withholding of removal). 13 Accordingly, as Wang failed to show that Chinese authorities 14 were aware or likely to discover his practice of 15 Christianity, he did not establish his prima facie 16 eligibility for relief. See Hongsheng Leng, 528 F.3d at 17 142; see also Jian Xing Huang v. U.S. INS, 421 F.3d 125, 129 18 (2d Cir. 2005) (per curiam) (absent “solid support” in the 19 record that his fear is objectively reasonable, a 20 petitioner’s claim is “speculative at best”). 21 Wang’s final argument that the BIA abused its 22 discretion by failing to explicitly consider probative 23 evidence of changed country conditions is unavailing, 3 1 because the BIA’s denial of his motion for failure to 2 establish his prima facie eligibility for relief was 3 dispositive. INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 104-05 (1988). 4 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 5 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 6 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 7 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 8 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 9 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 10 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second 11 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b). 12 FOR THE COURT: 13 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 14 15 4