Hyang Lee v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Hyang Lan Lee, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ’s”) denial of her application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence adverse credibility determinations, Chawla v. Holder, 599 F.3d 998, 1001 (9th Cir.2010), and deny the petition for review.

Lee’s claim for relief in her asylum application and at her merits hearing differed significantly from the claim for relief she presented to the asylum officer during her credible fear interview. We reject Lee’s contention that the BIA improperly relied on the credible fear interview to find her not credible. See Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 963 (9th Cir.2004); cf. Singh v. INS, 292 F.3d 1017, 1022 (9th Cir.2002) (concluding that an airport statement lacked sufficient indicia of reliability and accuracy on its own to support an adverse credibility determination because there was evidence of translation problems and no evidence of how the interview was conducted). Substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse credibility…