Yu Wang v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM **

Yu Wang, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision summarily affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal and for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence an adverse credibility determination, Chebchoub v. INS, 257 F.3d 1038, 1042 (9th Cir.2001), and we grant the petition.

Substantial evidence does not support the IJ’s adverse credibility finding. Petitioner’s asylum claim is based on his arrest for holding a series of Christian meetings at his home in China. The IJ found that petitioner was not credible based on several minor inconsistencies and implausibilities not going to the heart of petitioner’s religious asylum claim. Two discrepancies were noted regarding dates, which are minor discrepancies that cannot support an adverse credibility finding. See Vilorio-Lopez v. INS, 852 F.2d 1137, 1142 (9th Cir.1988) (stating that “[m]inor inconsistencies ... such as discrepancies *608 in dates which reveal nothing about an asylum applicant’s fear for his…