Conglin Zhong v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Conglin Zhong, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, applying the standards governing adverse credibility determinations created by the REAL ID Act, Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039-40 (9th Cir. 2010), and we grant the petition for review and remand.

Substantial evidence does not support the agency’s credibility determination, because the agency relied on inconsistencies not supported by the record, see Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079, 1087 (9th Cir. 2011), and failed to address Zheng’s explanations for an inconsistency as to the number of children he had in China, see Lai v. Holder, 773 F.3d 966, 970 (9th Cir. 2014). Further, the “omission” the agency relied on is not a specific and cogent reason to find Zhong not credible under the totality of the circumstances. See Lai, 773 F.3d at 970-76 . Thus, we grant Zhong’s petition for review and remand his asylum and withholding of…