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DENG v. GARLAND (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-07-08No. No. 15-71896

Summary

Holding. The petition for review is denied.

Wanhe Deng, a Chinese national, petitioned for review of a removal order after the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection. The court upheld the agency's credibility findings, noting contradictions between Deng's testimony about his intentions to leave China and his documented applications to a U.S. university in mid-2010, as well as inconsistencies regarding his involvement with a house church. The court determined the immigration judge properly considered Deng's explanations for these discrepancies but was not obligated to accept them.

The court also found that Deng failed to provide sufficient corroborating evidence for his claims and did not demonstrate that such evidence was genuinely unavailable. Additionally, Deng forfeited his Convention Against Torture argument by failing to raise it in his opening brief before the appellate court. Accordingly, the petition was denied.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Credibility of asylum applicant's testimony regarding intent to remain in China
  • Adequacy of corroborating evidence in asylum proceedings
  • Procedural forfeiture of Convention Against Torture claims

Procedural posture

Deng petitioned for review of a final removal order issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals under 8 U.S.C. § 1252.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

Petitioner Wanhe Deng is a native and citizen of China. He seeks review of a final order of removal after the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denied his requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and deny the petition.

1. Substantial evidence supports the agencys adverse credibility finding. See Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039–40 (9th Cir. 2010) (describing standard). For example, Petitioner testified that he had no plans to leave China before his arrest in October 2010. But he applied to the American Language Institute at San Francisco State University in June 2010, and sought a student visa in July 2010. In addition, Petitioners accounts of how often he attended a house church, and about when he learned that such gatherings were illegal, were inconsistent. The agency was required to consider Petitioners explanations, see Manes v. Sessions, 875 F.3d 1261, 1263 (9th Cir. 2017) (per curiam) (holding that a “petitioners explanation for the inconsistency, if any, should be considered in weighing credibility” (internal quotation marks omitted)), and it did. It was not required to credit those explanations. Rizk v. Holder, 629 F.3d 1083, 1088 (9th Cir. 2011).

2. The immigration judge fairly noted that Petitioner failed to provide corroborating evidence of his claims. At the very least, Petitioner presents no evidence that leaves us “compelled to conclude that such corroborating evidence is unavailable.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4). Petitioners argument that he “should not have to ‘create’ documents to support his claim” is insufficient.

3. Petitioner does not argue before us that the BIA erred in rejecting his claim for CAT protection. Accordingly, that issue is forfeited. See Rizk, 629 F.3d at 1091 n.3 (holding that the petitioner forfeited issues not raised in the opening brief).

PETITION DENIED.