Babayan

MEMORANDUM ***

Mnatsakan Babayan, his wife Gaiane, and their children, Tigran and Ofelia, (col *565 lectively “the Petitioners”) seek relief from the denial of their claims for asylum and withholding of removal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). The BIA affirmed the finding by the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) that Babayan was not credible. The Petitioners argue that (1) the IJ and BIA erred in finding Babayan not credible; and (2) the IJ abused its discretion by refusing to grant a continuance to allow an unavailable witness to testify later.

One of the grounds the IJ relied on in making the adverse credibility finding was that there are various discrepancies in the record regarding Babayan’s employment with and termination from the Apostolic Church in Armenia. The court must affirm a negative credibility finding if at least one of the articulated grounds is supported by substantial evidence and goes to the heart of the claims of persecution. Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 964 (9th Cir. 2004) (citing Wang v. INS, 352 F.3d 1250, 1259 (9th Cir.2003)). Here they do.

The record indicates that there are substantial inconsistencies between Babayan’s testimony regarding his…