Yanyandi Chen v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Yanyandi Chen petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and deny the petition for review.

1. The BIA affirmed an adverse credibility determination by the immigration judge (IJ) because Chen’s account at the hearing of the persecution he allegedly suffered in China differed materially from his written asylum application. Chen did not mention in his asylum application that he was part of a group that assaulted Chinese security officers as they sought to arrest the preacher of the underground church he attended; that he was home when security officers subsequently came to arrest him but escaped by jumping out of a window; or that his father was arrested and detained for two months. Although those events allegedly took place only four months before Chen submitted his asylum application, he did not disclose them until four years later near the end of his hearing before the IJ. When asked to explain the omission of his father’s detention, Chen claimed that he “forgot to write it.” A letter submitted by Chen from his wife also…