Mirzakhanyan
Mirzakhanyan v. Mukasey
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
In these consolidated petitions, Rita Mirzakhanyan, a native of Iran and citizen of Armenia, and her husband Saro Isayan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing Mirzak-hanyan’s appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying Mirzakhan-yan’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) (No. 05-72235), and the BIA’s order dismissing Isayan’s appeal from an IJ’s order denying his motion to reopen (No. 05-75630). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We grant the petition for review in No. OS-72235, and we deny the petition for review in No. 05-75630.
We conclude that the agency’s adverse credibility decision is not supported by substantial evidence because the inconsistencies found by the IJ do not go to the heart of Mirzakhanyan’s claim that she was persecuted on account of her Pentecostal religion. See Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1105 (9th Cir.2006) (minor inconsistencies that do not go to the heart of the asylum claim generally do not support an adverse credibility finding).