Filed: Apr. 21, 2010
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: 09-2154-ag Dong v. Holder BIA Balasquide, IJ A 099 930 780 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
Summary: 09-2154-ag Dong v. Holder BIA Balasquide, IJ A 099 930 780 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 T..
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09-2154-ag
Dong v. Holder
BIA
Balasquide, IJ
A 099 930 780
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 21 st day of April, two thousand nine.
5
6 PRESENT:
7 PIERRE N. LEVAL,
8 JOSÉ A. CABRANES,
9 DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,
10 Circuit Judges.
11 _______________________________________
12
13 ZHIHUI DONG,
14 Petitioner,
15
16 v. 09-2154-ag
17 NAC
18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., U.S. ATTORNEY
19 GENERAL,
20 Respondent.
21 ______________________________________
22
23 FOR PETITIONER: Yan Wang, New York, New York.
24
25 FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney
26 General; Jennifer L. Lightbody,
27 Senior Litigation Counsel; John S.
28 Hogan, Senior Litigation Counsel,
29 Office of Immigration Litigation,
30 Washington D.C.
1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
2 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby
3 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review
4 is DENIED.
5 Petitioner Zhihui Dong, a native and citizen of China,
6 seeks review of the April 30, 2009 order of the BIA
7 affirming the September 26, 2007 decision of Immigration
8 Judge (“IJ”) Javier E. Balasquide denying his application
9 for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the
10 Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In re Zhihui Dong, No.
11 A 099 930 780 (B.I.A. April 30, 2009), aff’g No. A 099 930
12 780 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Sept. 26, 2007). We assume the
13 parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and
14 procedural history in this case.
15 Under the circumstances of this case, we consider both
16 the IJ’s and BIA’s opinions “for the sake of completeness.”
17 Zaman v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 233, 237 (2d Cir. 2008). The
18 applicable standards of review are well-established. See
19 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); Yanqin Weng v. Holder,
562 F.3d
20 510, 513 (2d Cir. 2009).
21 As a preliminary matter, Dong does not challenge the
22 IJ’s findings that: (1) he provided inconsistent
2
1 explanations regarding his wife’s failure to mention his
2 detention or hospitalization in her December 2006 affidavit;
3 (2) contrary to Dong’s assertion that he did not mention his
4 detention and hospitalization in his asylum application
5 because he did not have documents to support the claim, such
6 documents were in the record; and (3) medical records that
7 Dong submitted indicating that he was beaten on the morning
8 of July 7, 2003 were inconsistent with his testimony that he
9 was in fact beaten more than ten days earlier. Thus, he has
10 waived any challenge to those findings, Yueqing Zhang v.
11 Gonzales, 426 F.3d 540, 541 n.1, 546 n.7 (2d Cir. 2005), and
12 they stand as valid bases for the IJ’s adverse credibility
13 determination. See Shunfu Li v. Mukasey,
529 F.3d 141, 146-
14 47 (2d Cir. 2008).
15 With regard to the findings that Dong does challenge,
16 each was proper. Dong argues that his failure to mention
17 his beating, detention, or hospitalization in his original
18 asylum application does not support an adverse credibility
19 finding because “when he first applied, his wife’s forced
20 abortion by itself served as a basis for him to obtain
21 asylum, but then a change in the Circuit case law made it
22 necessary to discuss his own persecution.” However, as the
3
1 IJ noted, the application specifically asked whether Dong
2 was arrested or detained while he lived in China, and Dong
3 answered “no.” Therefore, even if Dong did not believe that
4 he was required to establish that he was personally
5 mistreated in order to be eligible for relief, the IJ did
6 not err in finding that he “provided false information in
7 his original application for political asylum.” See Cheng
8 Tong Wang v. Gonzales, 449 F.3d 451, 453 (2d Cir. 2006).
9 Furthermore, although Dong argues that any inconsistency
10 between his testimony and the supporting documentation
11 regarding his wife’s payment of a fine to family planning
12 authorities was a “minor and insignificant point,” under the
13 REAL ID Act, “an IJ may rely on any inconsistency or
14 omission in making an adverse credibility determination as
15 long as the ‘totality of the circumstances’ establishes that
16 the asylum applicant is not credible.” Xiu Xia Lin v.
17 Mukasey,
534 F.3d 162, 167 (2d Cir. 2008) (per curiam)
18 (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii)).
19 Ultimately, the IJ’s credibility determination was
20 supported by substantial evidence. See 8 U.S.C.
21 § 1252(b)(4)(B); Xiu Xia
Lin, 534 F.3d at 165. Therefore,
22 the IJ did not err in denying Dong’s application for asylum,
4
1 withholding of removal, and CAT relief because the only
2 evidence that Dong would be persecuted or tortured depended
3 on his credibility. See Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148, 156
4 (2d Cir. 2006).
5 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
6 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any pending motion
7 for a stay of removal in this petition is DISMISSED as moot.
8 Any pending request for oral argument in this petition is
9 DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of Appellate
10 Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule 34(b).
11
12 FOR THE COURT:
13 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
14
15
16
5
