Anahit Simonyan v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Anahit Simonyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order dismissing her appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination to dismiss the petition based on a finding of adverse credibility. Singh v. Holder, 643 F.3d 1178, 1180 (9th Cir.2011) (adverse credibility findings reviewed for substantial evidence); Hosseini v. Gonzales, 471 F.3d 953, 957 (9th Cir.2006) (review is limited to the BIA decision when the BIA conducted its own review of the evidence and law, except to the extent that the IJ opinion is expressly adopted). We are bound to uphold a negative credibility determination where the inconsistencies that are identified go to the “heart” of the asylum claim. See Wang v. INS, 352 F.3d 1250, 1259 (9th Cir.2003). An inconsistency goes to the “heart of a claim if it concerns events central to petitioner’s version of why he was persecuted and fled.”…