NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
NOV 17 2016
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
XINFENG LI, No. 14-71971
Petitioner, Agency No. A088-124-664
v.
MEMORANDUM*
LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted November 9, 2016**
Pasadena, California
Before: BERZON and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges, and ZOUHARY,*** District
Judge.
Xinfeng Li, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board
of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal of the denial of his
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable Jack Zouhary, United States District Judge for the
Northern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the
Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252
and review the agency’s factual findings for substantial evidence. Zehatye v.
Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184–85 (9th Cir. 2006). We deny the petition.
Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that, considering the totality
of the circumstances, Li failed to demonstrate harm rising to the level of
persecution.
1. Spouses of individuals forced to undergo abortions are not presumptively
eligible for refugee status, but they may qualify for political asylum if they have
been persecuted “for other resistance to a coercive population control program.” 8
U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42); Jiang v. Holder, 611 F.3d 1086, 1092–97 (9th Cir. 2010).
In Jiang, this Court held that an asylum applicant, whose girlfriend was
subjected to a forced abortion, established such persecution. Officials detained
Jiang until the abortion was complete and released him only upon payment of a
heavy fine. Jiang was expelled from school due to his romantic relationship, which
was legally prohibited, but he still attempted to marry his girlfriend in a traditional
ceremony. When officials disrupted the wedding and attempted to arrest Jiang,
both he and his girlfriend went into hiding. Id. at 1094–97.
2
By comparison, Li’s experience was considerably less extreme. Unlike
Jiang, Li has not demonstrated any long-term adverse impact due to government
action. Li was beaten when he tried to prevent family-planning officials from
taking his wife to undergo the abortion, but a single incident is not typically
sufficient to constitute persecution. See Halim v. Holder, 590 F.3d 971, 975–76
(9th Cir. 2009) (holding a one-time beating by a mob, combined with other
incidents of harassment, did not amount to past persecution). Though Li’s wages
were cut and he lost his factory job due to the family-planning violation, any
economic deprivation was not substantial because he found a better-paying job as a
taxi driver. Cf. He v. Holder, 749 F.3d 792, 796 (9th Cir. 2014) (finding no
economic persecution where the petitioner was fined for a family planning
violation and went into hiding to avoid paying the fine in full, but was able to
continue working). Moreover, Li and his family remained in China, apparently
free from harassment, for eight years following the forced abortion, and Li left
China and returned without incident before coming to the United States.
Li’s inability to have additional children could be considered a long-term
adverse impact. Li’s wife was forced to wear an IUD for the remainder of her
childbearing years -- arguably analogous to a forced sterilization. But a spouse’s
forced sterilization alone is insufficient for a derivative persecution claim. See
3
Jiang, 611 F.3d at 1093–94. Further, Li has been in the United States for the past
nine years, which also prevented him from having children with his wife who
remains in China.
Substantial evidence also supports the BIA’s determination that Li failed to
demonstrate a well-founded fear of future persecution, independent of his claim of
past persecution. See He, 749 F.3d at 796. Thus, his asylum claim fails.
2. Because Li failed to establish eligibility for asylum, he necessarily cannot
meet the more stringent standard for withholding of removal. See Zehatye, 453
F.3d at 1190.
3. Finally, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s denial of CAT relief
because Li failed to show it is more likely than not that he would be tortured by or
with the consent or acquiescence of the Chinese government if returned. See
Silaya v. Mukasey, 524 F.3d 1066, 1073 (9th Cir. 2008).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
4