Min Zhang v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Min Lun Zhang (“Zhang”), a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We deny the petition in part, grant it in part, and remand to the BIA for further proceedings.

I

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility determination as to Zhang’s claims for asylum and withholding of removal based on his wife’s forced sterilization by Chinese population control officials. See Don v. Gonzales, 476 F.3d 738, 741 (9th Cir.2007) (quoting Thangaraja v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 870, 874 (9th Cir.2005)) (stating that this Court may reverse an adverse credibility finding only if “no reasonable factfinder could have reached the agency’s result”). Specifically, the IJ properly relied on Zhang’s failure to mention his wife’s forced sterilization in his airport interview and his initial asylum application and Zhang’s inconsistent statements concerning his wife’s going into hiding during her second pregnancy. Zhang was afforded an opportunity to explain the inconsistencies,…