Filed: Sep. 19, 2014
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: 12-1001 Sun v. Holder BIA Weisel, IJ A089 193 664 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: 12-1001 Sun v. Holder BIA Weisel, IJ A089 193 664 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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12-1001
Sun v. Holder
BIA
Weisel, IJ
A089 193 664
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 Thurgood Marshall United
States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York,
on the 19th day of September, two thousand fourteen.
PRESENT:
JON O. NEWMAN,
RALPH K. WINTER,
REENA RAGGI,
Circuit Judges.
______________________________________
HONG HUA SUN,
Petitioner,
v. 12-1001
NAC
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
_______________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: Thomas V. Massucci, New York, NY.
FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant
Attorney General; Shelley R. Goad,
Assistant Director; Kristin A.
Moresi, 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 Hong Hua Sun, a native and citizen of the
People’s Republic of China, seeks review of a February 14,
2012, order of the BIA affirming the January 27, 2010,
decision of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Robert Weisel, which
denied Sun’s application for asylum, withholding of removal,
and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In
re Hong Hua Sun, No. A089 193 664 (B.I.A. Feb. 14, 2012),
aff’g No. A089 193 664 (Immig. Ct. New York City Jan. 27,
2010). 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 IJ’s decision as supplemented by the BIA. Yan Chen v.
Gonzales,
417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir. 2005). 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). Sun challenges only the agency’s denial of
asylum and withholding of removal.
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Contrary to Sun’s contentions, as her applications are
governed by the REAL ID Act of 2005, the agency reasonably
denied asylum and withholding of removal based on her
failure to corroborate her claim with letters from her
husband and a former co-worker in Honduras. 8 U.S.C.
§§ 1158(b)(1)(B)(ii), 1231(b)(3)(C). Given Sun’s concession
that a letter from her husband was reasonably available, and
as a statement from her husband would have been the only
evidence corroborating her testimony that Chinese
authorities were aware of her practice of Christianity, the
agency reasonably determined that Sun failed to meet her
burden based on this omission. See Hongsheng Leng v.
Mukasey,
528 F.3d 135, 143 (2d Cir. 2008) (noting that to
establish a well-founded fear of persecution in the absence
of any evidence of past persecution, an applicant must
demonstrate “that authorities in [her] country of
nationality are either aware [or] likely to become aware of
[her] activities”). Sun’s contention that the agency was
required to probe her explanation for the omission lacks
merit, given her testimony that she was able to receive
other mail from her husband in China. Cf. Majidi v.
Gonzales,
430 F.3d 77, 80-81 (2d Cir. 2005) (requiring
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explanation for inconsistency to be more than plausible,
i.e., “that a reasonable fact-finder would be compelled to
credit [the] testimony” (emphasis in original)).
Similarly, given Sun’s concession that a letter from a
former co-worker was reasonably available, her argument that
the letter was unnecessary because other evidence
sufficiently corroborated her protected status lacks merit
because the other letters and affidavits from pastors and
parishioners failed to corroborate any details of her
conversion or when she started attending religious services
in Honduras. See Chuiliu Liu v. Holder,
575 F.3d 193, 197
(2d Cir. 2009). Accordingly, her explanation for the
omission of that letter – that she did not think to include
it – is insufficient to compel a contrary conclusion. Cf.
Majidi, 430 F.3d at 80-81.
As the agency’s corroboration determination is
dispositive of Sun’s petition for review, 8 U.S.C.
§§ 1158(b)(1)(B)(ii), 1231(b)(3)(C), we decline to consider
her remaining arguments, see INS v. Bagamasbad,
429 U.S. 24,
25 (1976).
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of
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removal that the Court previously granted in this petition
is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in
this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for
oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second
Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
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