Asatryan
Asatryan v. Keisler
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM ***
Srbuhi Asatryan and her husband, Kajik Sargasyan, natives and citizens of Armenia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision dismissing their appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of their application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence an adverse credibility finding and will uphold the IJ’s and BIA’s decisions unless the evidence compels a contrary conclusion. Malhi v. INS, 336 F.3d 989, 992 (9th Cir.2003). We deny the petition.
Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s and BIA’s denial of asylum based on an adverse credibility finding. Petitioners’ testimony and asylum application were inconsistent with an organization’s mission statement as to whether the organization was run by the state or private entities and whether the organization had a religious affiliation. See Li v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 959, 962 (9th Cir.2004) (“An adverse credibility ruling will be upheld so long as identified discrepancies go to the heart of [the] asylum claim.”). Petitioners also failed to testify about threats made to family members and the beating of a family…