Tarlock Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Tarlock (aka Tarlochan) Singh petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision dismissing his appeal of an immigration judge’s (IJ) decision finding him excludable and denying his claims for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Conven tion Against Torture (CAT). We deny the petition for review.

1. Even assuming the IJ and the BIA erred by relying on the airport interview statement as a source of impeachment, substantial evidence supports the adverse credibility determination. In a statement included with his 1994 asylum application, Singh testified with respect to his second arrest that he spent four days in jail. He later testified he was held overnight. In the same 1994 declaration, Singh testified that, following his third arrest, police came to his house to harass him exactly two times. He later testified it was approximately 10 times and definitely was not two times. These inconsistencies went to the heart of Singh’s asylum claim because they “concerned] events central to [his] version of why he was persecuted and fled.” Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1108 (9th Cir.2006). The BIA, moreover, was not required to credit…