De Herrera v. Ashcroft

MEMORANDUM **

Santos Castillo de Herrera, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision summarily affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her applications for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105 (a). See Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1150 (9th Cir.1997). We review the IJ’s decision as the final agency determination. See Falcon Carriche, 350 F.3d 845, 849 (9th Cir.2003). We review for substantial evidence, Lata v. INS, 204 F.3d 1241, 1244 (9th Cir.2000), and deny the petition.

The IJ’s adverse credibility finding is supported by substantial evidence. While “minor omissions relating to unimportant facts” will not support an adverse credibility finding, de Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391 , 393 (9th Cir.1997), failure to include pivotal events in pre-hearing documentation can provide a specific and cogent reason for discrediting testimony. See Wang v. INS, 352 F.3d 1250, 1257 (9th Cir.2003); Alvarez-Santos v. INS, 332 F.3d 1245, 1254 (9th Cir.2003). De Herrera testified to several events that she did not include in her 1993 asylum application, her 1995…