De Qing Lin v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner De Qing Lin, a native of China, appeals from the decision of the Board *683 of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his application for asylum and withholding of deportation based on an adverse credibility determination. Where, as here, the BIA affirms the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision without opinion, the court reviews the decision of the IJ as if it were the BIA’s decision. Cedano-Viera v. Ashcroft, 324 F.3d 1062 , 1063 n. 1 (9th Cir.2003); Al-Harbi v. INS, 242 F.3d 882, 887-88 (9th Cir.2001).

Pursuant to section 101(a)(42)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(B), and the BIA’s decision in In re C-Y-Z, 21 I. & N. Dec. 915, 918-20 (BIA 1997), Lin is automatically eligible for asylum if he can show that his wife was forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization procedure under China’s one-child policy. See also He v. Ashcroft, 328 F.3d 593, 604 (9th Cir.2003) (finding petitioner eligible for asylum based on his wife’s forced sterilization). The court reviews an IJ’s adverse credibility finding “to see whether substantial evidence supports that conclusion and determine whether the reasoning employed by the IJ is fatally…