Zi Ying Qui v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM *

Zi Ying Qui, a 46-year-old native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying her applications for asylum and withholding of removal. 1 At her merits hearing, she testified that she fears the Chinese government will involuntarily sterilize her should she return to China because she violated the government’s “one child” policy. The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and the BIA denied her applications on the ground that she was not a credible witness. Qui argues that the BIA’s adverse credibility determination was not supported by substantial evidence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition for review.

Where, as here, the BIA conducted a de novo review of the record and made an independent determination of whether relief is appropriate, we review the decision of the BIA, not of the IJ. Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1050 (9th Cir.2001).

We review for substantial evidence the BIA’s decision to deny an asylum application, as we do a finding by the BIA that the alien did not present credible evidence of persecution. See Hoque v. Ashcroft, 367…