Axhi Guze v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Axhi Guze (“Guze”) is a native and citizen of Macedonia. He seeks asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). The immigration judge (“IJ”) found Guze not to be credible, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed the IJ.

The facts are known to the parties. We do not repeat them here.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny Guze’s petition.

We review an IJ’s adverse credibility finding for substantial evidence. “[S]o long as one of the identified grounds is supported by substantial evidence ... we are bound to accept the IJ’s adverse credibility finding.” Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 964 (9th Cir.2004).

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s adverse credibility finding because during the merits hearing to adjudicate petitioner’s application, several inconsistencies surfaced that proved fatal to Guze’s credibility.

First, Guze gave inconsistent accounts about when he joined the Democratic Party (DPA). During his credible fear interview, Guze stated he joined the party in 2001, but during the merits hearing Guze testified that he joined the DPA a full three years…