Angel Cruz-Juarez v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Angel Cruz-Juarez, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agen- ay’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). We deny the petition for review.

The BIA found Cruz-Juarez not credible based on discrepancies in his testimony and application as to the events leading to his father’s arrest. Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility determination. See id. at 1046-47 (“Although inconsistencies no longer need to go to the' heart of the petitioner’s claim [under the REAL ID Act], when an inconsistency is at the heart of the claim it doubtless is of great weight.”); id. at 1048 (adverse credibility finding reasonable under the “totality of circumstances”). Even if Cruz-Juarez’s explanations for the discrepancies were plausible, they do not compel a contrary conclusion. See…