Xi Ying Zheng v. Mukasey
Xi Ying Zheng v. Mukasey
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Xi Ying Zheng, a native and citizen of China, seeks review of an August 31, 2007 order of the BIA denying her motion to reopen her removal proceedings. In re Xi Ying Zheng, No. A97 330 347 (B.I.A. Aug.
We review the denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion. See Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 233 (2d Cir. 2005) (per curiam). “An abuse of discretion may be found ... where the [BIA’s] decision provides no rational explanation, inexplicably departs from established policies, is devoid of any reasoning, or contains only summary or conclusory statements.” Ke Zhen Zhao v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83, 93 (2d Cir. 2001) (internal citations omitted).
The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Zheng’s motion to reopen because it found that she failed to present new and material evidence supporting her family planning claim. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(1).
Additionally, the BIA did not abuse its discretion in declining to credit Zheng’s affidavit, her mother’s statement, or the village notice she submitted based on the IJ’s prior, unchallenged adverse credibility determination concerning her religious persecution claim. We have found that the BIA may reasonably decline to accord probative weight to documents submitted with a motion to reopen where the IJ made an adverse credibility determination after the movant’s asylum hearing. Qin Wen Zheng v. Gonzales, 500 F.3d 143, 146-47 (2d Cir. 2007). Because Zheng did not seek review of the BIA’s prior order upholding the IJ’s adverse credibility determination, the BIA reasonably relied on that determination in declining to credit the evidence she submitted with her motion to reopen. See id.; Siewe v. Gonzales, 480 F.3d 160, 170 (2d Cir. 2007) (“[A] single false document or a single instance of false testimony may (if attributable to the petitioner) infect the balance of the alien’s uncorroborated or unauthenticated evidence.”).
We need not address Zheng’s argument that the BIA applied an inappropriately stringent standard because it required her to establish statutory eligibility for asylum versus piima facie eligibility for relief because the BIA’s findings concerning the materiality and availability of the evidence Zheng submitted, in light of the IJ’s prior adverse credibility determination, independently support the BIA’s denial of her motion. See INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94,
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is DENIED. As we have completed our review, the pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition is DISMISSED as moot.
. In her brief, Zheng waives any claim based on religious persecution, as well as any claim based on her "successive” asylum application. See, e.g., Yueqing Zhang v. Gonzales, 426 F.3d 540, 541 n. 1, 545 n. 7 (2d Cir. 2005).
. Zheng's reliance on our holding in Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148 (2d Cir. 2006), is misplaced. In that case, we held that the BIA erred in rejecting the petitioner’s motion to reopen based on the IJ’s adverse credibility finding where the IJ had rejected the petitioner's claims regarding past persecution but believed that he was a Christian. Id. at 152— 54. In such circumstances, we found error in the BIA’s decision where it failed to consider evidence regarding the mistreatment of Christians in petitioner’s country — evidence that did not depend on petitioner’s credibility for its probative force. See id.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- XI YING ZHENG, a/k/a Sweelmm Tan v. Michael B. MUKASEY, United States Attorney General
- Status
- Published