Jiaquan Wu v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Jiaquan Wu petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of his applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We affirm.

1. Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Wu failed to demonstrate that he has been subject to past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution, which he must do in order to be granted asylum. Chinese government officials physically harmed Wu on only one occasion, in 1990, for his resistance to China’s family planning policies. This one incident is likely insufficient to rise to the level of past persecution. See, e.g., Gu v. Gonzales, 454 F.3d 1014, 1019-21 (9th Cir.2006); Prasad v. INS, 47 F.3d 336, 339 (9th Cir.1995). Similarly, Wu did not suffer substantial economic deprivation as a result of his run-in with authorities: five years after the incident, Wu was self-employed and earning $85,000 USD annually. Reversal is not warranted on the grounds that the BIA found Wu’s testimony lacked credibility because, in reviewing the IJ’s decision, the BIA assumed credibility. Barraza Rivera v. INS, 913 F.2d 1443, 1449-50 (9th Cir.1990).

Wu’s claim that he has a well-founded…