Filed: Dec. 15, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: 14-1214 Singh-Kaur v. Lynch BIA Vomacka, IJ A200 815 942 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 TH
Summary: 14-1214 Singh-Kaur v. Lynch BIA Vomacka, IJ A200 815 942 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..
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14-1214
Singh-Kaur v. Lynch
BIA
Vomacka, IJ
A200 815 942
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 TO A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY
OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States
Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the
15th day of December, two thousand fifteen.
PRESENT:
DENNIS JACOBS,
PETER W. HALL,
RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR.,
Circuit Judges.
_____________________________________
JATINDER SINGH-KAUR, AKA SHELLY
JATINDER SINGH,
Petitioner,
v. 14-1214
NAC
LORETTA E. LYNCH, UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
_____________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: Amy Nussbaum Gell, Gell & Gell, New
York, New York.
FOR RESPONDENT: Joyce R. Branda, Acting Assistant
Attorney General; Shelley R. Goad,
Assistant Director; Julia J. Tyler,
Trial Attorney; Office of
Immigration Litigation, United
States Department of Justice,
Washington, D.C.
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is
DENIED.
Petitioner Jatinder Singh-Kaur, a native and citizen of
India, seeks review of a March 25, 2014, decision of the BIA
affirming an April 12, 2012, decision of an Immigration Judge
(“IJ”) denying Singh-Kaur’s application for asylum,
withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against
Torture (“CAT”). In re Jatinder Singh-Kaur, No. A200 815 942
(B.I.A. Mar. 25, 2014), aff’g No. A200 815 942 (Immig. Ct. N.Y.
City Apr. 12, 2012). We assume the parties’ familiarity with
the underlying facts and procedural history in this case.
Under the circumstances of this case, we have reviewed the
decision of the IJ as modified by the BIA decision. See Xue
Hong Yang v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice,
426 F.3d 520, 522 (2d Cir.
2005). The applicable standards of review are well
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established. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see also Yanqin
Weng v. Holder,
562 F.3d 510, 513 (2d Cir. 2009).
For asylum applications such as Singh-Kaur’s, which are
governed by the REAL ID Act, the agency may, considering the
totality of the circumstances, base a credibility finding on
an applicant’s “demeanor, candor or responsiveness,” the
plausibility of his account, and inconsistencies in his
statements, without regard to whether they go “to the heart of
the applicant’s claim.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii); Xiu
Xia Lin v. Mukasey,
534 F.3d 162, 167 (2d Cir. 2008).
Substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse
credibility determination. The agency found that Singh-Kaur
testified inconsistently regarding whether he was assaulted on
March 25 or April 25 of 2010. He also testified inconsistently
about whether he had received a card or a letter denoting
membership in his political party when he joined; he submitted
neither as evidence. At no stage of the proceedings did
Singh-Kaur explain these inconsistencies in a manner that would
compel a reasonable fact-finder to credit the explanation. See
Majidi v. Gonzales,
430 F.3d 77, 80-81 (2d Cir. 2005).
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Further, the agency reasonably found that Singh-Kaur’s
corroborating evidence did not rehabilitate his inconsistent
testimony, and sometimes called it into question. The letter
he submitted from his political party stated that government
agents attacked him; Singh-Kaur did not claim that his attackers
were government agents. It was also reasonable for the agency
to give Singh-Kaur’s other evidence minimal weight: the
affidavits were from interested parties and were submitted
without versions in the language spoken by the affiants; and
the letter from the hospital was reasonably deemed unreliable
because it contained misspellings atypical of such documents,
was submitted in an untimely manner, and was extremely vague
regarding the nature and cause of Singh-Kaur’s injuries. See
Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice,
471 F.3d 315, 341–42 (2d
Cir. 2006).
Accordingly, a totality of the circumstances supports the
agency’s adverse credibility determination, which is
dispositive of Singh-Kaur’s claims for asylum, withholding of
removal, and CAT relief. Paul v. Gonzales,
444 F.3d 148, 156-57
(2d Cir. 2006).
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For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
DENIED.
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O=Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
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