Liancheng Du v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Chun Xue, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, applying the standards governing adverse credibility determinations created by the REAL ID Act. Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039 (9th Cir.2010). We deny the petition for review.

Xue claimed that during an incident with Chinese officials, his girlfriend told him to run away, and that he ran to a friend’s house. However, a letter Xue submitted from his girlfriend states he was “taken away by family planning officials” during the incident. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse credibility determination based on this inconsistency. See Goel v. Gonzales, 490 F.3d 735, 739 (9th Cir.2007) (inconsistency between petitioner’s documentary evidence and testimony was a proper basis for an adverse credibility finding); Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1046-47 (“Although inconsistencies no longer need to go to the heart of the…