Sheikh

MEMORANDUM **

Rahamadadulla Sheikh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C § 1252. We review adverse credibility findings for substantial evidence, Chebchoub v. INS, 257 F.3d 1038, 1042 (9th Cir.2001), and we deny the petition for review.

Although many of the BIA’s reasons for finding Sheikh not credible were based upon impermissible grounds, the record nonetheless supports the BIA’s adverse credibility determination. The BIA based its decision, in part, on Sheikh’s failure to describe in his asylum application, and in his interview with the asylum officer, an incident in which he was placed inside a tire and beaten. Because this omission goes to the heart of Sheikh’s asylum claim, substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility finding. See id. at 1043 (explaining that one material inconsistency can be sufficient to support an adverse credibility determination.)

The BIA also properly based its decision on the…