William Munge v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

William Gitau Munge, a native and citizen of Kenya, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming an immigration judge’s order denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2006). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility determination based on the inconsistencies between Munge’s testimony and declaration regarding the dates and the number of times the Mungiki kidnaped him. See Chebchoub v. INS, 257 F.3d 1038, 1043 (9th Cir.2001) (inconsistencies which go to the heart of petitioner’s asylum claim support an adverse credibility finding); Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 964 (9th Cir.2004) (a negative credibility finding will be upheld “so long as one of the identified grounds is supported by substantial evidence and goes to the heart of [the] claim of persecution”) (internal citation and quotation omitted). Accordingly, in the absence of credible testimony, Munge’s…