Qui Ping Zheng v. Ashcroft

93 F. App'x 370
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 9, 2004
DocketNo. 02-4446
StatusPublished

This text of 93 F. App'x 370 (Qui Ping Zheng v. Ashcroft) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Qui Ping Zheng v. Ashcroft, 93 F. App'x 370 (3d Cir. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

FUENTES, Circuit Judge.

The petitioner, Qui Ping Zheng, appeals from an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, affirming the decision of the Immigration Judge. The IJ had denied Zheng asylum in the United States, a withholding of removal, and protection under Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture. We conclude that substantial evidence supports the Immigration Judge’s decision and, therefore, we will affirm.

I

Petitioner is a nineteen year old Chinese female who attempted to enter the United states in July 2000. She was refused entry by an immigration officer and detained shortly thereafter. We recite the facts pertaining to Zheng’s claim as she alleges they occurred. In October 1999, Zheng’s father died of cancer. At a neighbor’s suggestion, she began attending Christian meetings in November of that year. Resulting from her association with the Christian group, Zheng began praying regularly and studying the Bible.

In December 1999, petitioner claims that she was caught praying at school and was consequently expelled. Zheng and her mother filed a petition with the school board seeking reinstatement. No response was ever received. The following month, Zheng was visited twice by police at her home. At the time of the second visit, Zheng hid because she believed she would be taken into custody. Zheng testified that the police told her mother that Zheng should appear before them for an interview to discuss her illegal association with an unauthorized religious organization. Zheng alleges that under these circumstances she left China for the United States.

At 16 years of age, Zheng entered the United States. She was arrested by the INS in Arizona where she was held in a juvenile facility. Petitioner filed two asylum claims, the first in November 2000, the second in February 2001. The IJ discounted Zheng’s credibility based upon differences between her two asylum applications, her interviews with Immigration Officers, in court testimony later shown to be false, and biographical inconsistencies.

Based on these disparities the IJ found Zheng, the sole witness, to lack credibility. Further, the IJ noted that even if Zheng were credible, her claims did not rise to the level of persecution, nor did they establish that it is more likely than not that she would be harmed if returned to China. Zheng seeks review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the decision of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying Zheng asylum, a withholding of removal and protection under Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture. The BIA issued its decision on November 13, 2002. Thereafter, the peti[372]*372tion for review was filed in a timely manner.

II

This Court’s jurisdiction over a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) arises under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1). Under the BIA’s streamlining regulations, a single BIA member may affirm an IJ’s decision in a single sentence without an opinion if he or she determines that the result was correct, and that “(A) the issue on appeal is squarely controlled by existing Board or federal court precedent and does not involve the application of precedent to a novel fact situation; or (B) the factual and legal questions raised on appeal are so insubstantial that three-Member review is not warranted.” Dia v. Ashcroft, 353 F.3d 228, 235 (3d Cir.2003), citing 8 C.F.R. § 3.1(a)(7)(h) (2002). When this regulation is exercised by the BIA, it becomes our task to review the IJ’s opinion and to determine whether it was supported by substantial evidence. Dia v. Ashcroft, 353 F.3d at 234, 245.

III

Zheng’s initial argument is that the IJ’s decision, finding that she lacked credibility, is not supported by substantial evidence.

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Related

LOZADA
19 I. & N. Dec. 637 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
93 F. App'x 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/qui-ping-zheng-v-ashcroft-ca3-2004.