Filed: Apr. 05, 2012
Latest Update: Feb. 22, 2020
Summary: 10-1912-ag Lin v. Holder BIA Hom, IJ A099 661 860 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 NOTAT
Summary: 10-1912-ag Lin v. Holder BIA Hom, IJ A099 661 860 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 NOTATI..
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10-1912-ag
Lin v. Holder
BIA
Hom, IJ
A099 661 860
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.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of
New York, on the 5th day of April, two thousand twelve.
PRESENT:
ROSEMARY S. POOLER,
RICHARD C. WESLEY,
DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,
Circuit Judges.
_____________________________________
PING HUA LIN,
Petitioner,
v. 10-1912-ag
NAC
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
_______________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: G. Victoria Calle, New York,
New York.
FOR RESPONDENTS: Tony West, Assistant Attorney
General; Lyle D. Jentzer, Senior
Litigation Counsel; Jeffrey L.
Menkin, 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.
Ping Hua Lin, a native and citizen of the People’s
Republic of China, seeks review of an April 16, 2010, order
of the BIA, affirming the March 19, 2008, decision of
Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Sandy Hom, which denied his
application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief
under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In re Ping
Hua Lin, No. A099 661 860 (B.I.A. Apr. 16, 2010), aff’g No.
A099 661 860 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Mar. 19, 2008). We
assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts
and procedural history in this case.
Under the circumstances of this case, we have
considered both the IJ’s and the BIA’s opinions “for the
sake of completeness.” Zaman v. Mukasey,
514 F.3d 233, 237
(2d Cir. 2008). The applicable standards of review are
well-established. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); Yanqin Weng
v. Holder,
562 F.3d 510, 513 (2d Cir. 2009).
Lin’s asylum claim was based primarily on his wife’s
forced abortion and his mother’s one-day detention. As we
have explained, “[a]s a general principle, an asylum
2
applicant cannot claim past persecution based solely on harm
that was inflicted on a family member.” Tao Jiang v.
Gonzales,
500 F.3d 137, 141 (2d Cir. 2007). We have also
specifically held that a woman’s forced abortion does not
qualify as per se persecution with respect to her spouse.
See Shi Liang Lin v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice,
494 F.3d 296,
309 (2d Cir. 2007). Although Lin argues that he personally
suffered emotional harm due to his wife’s forced abortion,
the “profound emotional loss as a partner and potential
parent . . . . does not change the requirement that we must
follow the ‘ordinary meaning’ of the language chosen by
Congress, according to which an individual does not
automatically qualify for ‘refugee’ status on account of a
coercive procedure performed on someone else.”
Id.
Accordingly, the agency did not err in finding that Lin was
not eligible for relief based on his mother’s detention and
his wife’s forced abortion. See
id.
While a spouse’s forced abortion is not per se
persecution, applicants may base their claims on
“persecution that they themselves have suffered or must
suffer” on account of their “other resistance” to a coercive
family planning policy. See id.; see also 8 U.S.C.
3
§ 1101(a)(42). Lin argues that he resisted the family
planning policy by conceiving an unauthorized child, and was
persecuted on account of his resistance because he was
threatened with sterilization and hid from the family
planning officials as a result of that threat. However, the
agency did not err in finding that Lin failed to demonstrate
that he engaged in “other resistance,” as he testified that
he did not engage in any overt opposition to the family
planning policy. See Ru-Jian Zhang v. Ashcroft,
395 F.3d
531, 532 (2d Cir. 2004). Moreover, even if Lin’s attempt to
hide from the family planning officials might be
characterized as “other resistance,” see Matter of M-F-W- &
L-G-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 633, 638 (B.I.A. 2008), the agency did
not err in finding that he failed to show that he was
persecuted on account of his resistance. See Shi Liang
Lin,
494 F.3d at 313.
Lin testified that he was never arrested or physically
mistreated. He argues, however, that he was persecuted
because the family planning officials threatened him,
causing him to go into hiding. The agency did not err in
finding that these experiences did not rise to the level of
persecution. See Gui Ci Pan v. U.S. Attorney Gen.,
449 F.3d
4
408, 412 (2d Cir. 2006)(noting that courts have “rejected
[persecution] claims involving ‘unfulfilled’ threats”).
Because Lin failed to demonstrate that he was persecuted on
account of his other resistance, the agency did not err in
denying asylum and withholding of removal, as both claims
shared the same factual predicate. See Paul v. Gonzales,
444 F.3d 148, 154 (2d Cir. 2006). Lin has not challenged
the agency’s finding that he failed to demonstrate a well-
founded fear of future persecution or its denial of CAT
relief.
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
DENIED.
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
5