Bao Ming Xu v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM **

Bao Ming Xu, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (the “Convention”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition.

The IJ found that Xu was not credible based upon the discrepancy between Xu’s airport interview and his subsequent testimony regarding the reason he fled China. While statements given during airport interviews are not always valuable impeachment sources, see Singh v. INS, 292 F.3d 1017, 1021-24 (9th Cir.2002), here the interpreter who conducted the airport interview testified at the asylum hearing and the record contains sufficient information about the circumstances under which the interview was conducted to ensure the accuracy and completeness of Xu’s statement. See Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 962-63 (9th Cir.2004). Accordingly, the IJ reasonably determined that the airport interview statement was a reliable impeachment source. See id. at 963 . Because the inconsistency identified by the IJ goes to *714 the…