Saini

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Yashpal Saini, a native and citizen of India, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ summary affir-mance of an immigration judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, voluntary departure, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. The IJ denied all relief on the basis of an adverse credibility finding relating to the petitioner’s testimony that he suffered persecution on account of his support of Sikh causes and imputed membership in the All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF). Under our law, adverse credibility findings must be supported by major inconsistencies that go to the heart of the petitioner’s claim. An adverse credibility finding is not supported by substantial evidence where it is supported only by minor, immaterial inconsistencies. See, e.g., Kaur v. Gonzales, 418 F.3d 1061, 1064 (9th Cir. 2005).

Here, many of the purported inconsistencies relied upon by the IJ were not in fact inconsistencies or did not go to the heart of the petitioner’s claims. For example, the petitioner testified that he received medical treatment following harsh beatings, and the treatment included injections, medications,…