Jong Chen v. Eric H. Holder, Jr.

496 F. App'x 694

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: January 11, 2013
• Docket: 12-1578
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Jong Xiang Chen, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals which upheld an immigration judge’s denial of asylum and withholding of removal. After careful review, we find no basis for reversal, as the denials of relief were supported by substantial evidence on the administrative record as a whole. See Khrystotodorov v. Mukasey, 551 F.3d 775, 781, 784 (8th Cir.2008) (substantial-evidence standard for asylum claim; denial of asylum dictates same outcome on withholding-of-removal claim based on same underlying factual allegations); Pavlovich v. Gonzales, 476 F.3d 613, 618 (8th Cir.2007) (immigration judge may reasonably rely on state department reports in assessing likelihood of future persecution); cf. Celaj v. Gonzales, 468 F.3d 1094, 1097-98 (8th Cir. 2006) (immigration judge’s failure to consider statements in “other” state department reports was not error when statements in other reports did not “materially detract” from conclusions in state department report relied upon by immigration judge). Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.