Ying Qi Liu v. Mukasey

MEMORANDUM **

Ying Qi Liu, a Chinese citizen and practitioner of Falun Gong, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) summarily affirming an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Where, as here, the BIA affirms without an opinion, the IJ’s decision becomes the final agency action for the purposes of review. See Falcon Carriche v. Ashcroft, 350 F.3d 845, 848 (9th Cir.2003). We grant the petition and remand.

The IJ denied relief solely based on an adverse credibility determination, finding discrepancies between Liu’s testimony and her asylum application, internal inconsistencies in her testimony, non-responsive answers, and a lack of corroborating evi *642 dence. We review an IJ’s adverse credibility determination for substantial evidence and reverse only if the evidence compels a contrary conclusion. See I.N.S. v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992); Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1105 (9th Cir.2006). Although this standard is deferential, the IJ must…