Lie v. Holder , 435 F. App'x 29 ( 2011 )


Menu:
  • 10-2514-ag
    Lie v. Holder
    BIA
    Abrams, IJ
    A098 365 367
    A098 365 368
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
    SUMMARY ORDER
    RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY
    ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL
    RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING
    A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE
    FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”).
    A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT
    REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
    At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals
    for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan
    United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of New
    York, on the 11th day of July, two thousand eleven.
    PRESENT:
    JON O. NEWMAN,
    JOSÉ A. CABRANES,
    GERARD E. LYNCH,
    Circuit Judges.
    ______________________________________
    AY LY LIE, ANITA C. JAYA, AKA ANITA
    CAROLLINA JAYA,
    Petitioners,
    v.                                                 10-2514-ag
    NAC
    ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
    ATTORNEY GENERAL,
    Respondent.
    ______________________________________
    FOR PETITIONERS:           Jack Herzig, Glenside, Pennsylvania.
    FOR RESPONDENT:             Tony West, Asst. Atty. General; Carl H.
    McIntyre, Jr., Asst. Director; Kate D.
    Balaban, Trial Atty., Office of Immigra-
    tion Litigation, Civil Division, U.S.
    Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
    UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
    Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby
    ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is
    DENIED.
    Petitioners, Ay Ly Lie and Anita C. Jaya, mother and
    daughter and natives and citizens of Indonesia, seek review of
    a May 28, 2010, decision of the BIA affirming the May 15,
    2008, decision of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Steven R. Abrams
    denying their applications for asylum, withholding of removal,
    and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).                      In
    re Lie, Nos.        A098 365 367/368 (B.I.A. May 28, 2010),              aff’g
    Nos. A098 365 367/368 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City May 15, 2008).                    We
    assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and
    procedural history of the case.
    Under the circumstances of this case, we have reviewed
    both    the   IJ’s    and   the   BIA’s       opinions    “for   the   sake   of
    completeness.”        Zaman v. Mukasey, 
    514 F.3d 233
    , 237 (2d Cir.
    2008).        The    applicable        standards     of   review   are   well-
    established.        See 
    8 U.S.C. § 1252
    (b)(4)(B); see also Yanqin
    Weng v. Holder, 
    562 F.3d 510
    , 513 (2d Cir. 2009).
    Because      Lie   and   Jaya    do    not   challenge    the   agency’s
    pretermission of Lie’s asylum application, the ruling that
    past persecution was not shown, or the denial of CAT relief,
    we address only the merits of Lie’s petition as it pertains to
    -2-
    withholding of removal and Jaya’s petition as it pertains to
    asylum and withholding of removal based on a claimed pattern
    or   practice    of     persecution    against        Christian   and   ethnic
    Chinese Indonesians.        See Yueqing Zhang v. Gonzales, 
    426 F.3d 540
    , 541 n.1, 545 n.7 (2d Cir. 2005).                   In addition, because
    the BIA determined that, even assuming credibility, Lie and
    Jaya did not establish their eligibility for relief, we also
    assume credibility.         See Mei Fun Wong v. Holder, 
    633 F.3d 64
    ,
    68 (2d Cir. 2011).
    The agency reasonably concluded that Lie and Jaya failed
    to   establish    the    existence     of   a    pattern    or    practice    of
    persecution      against     Christians         and     ethnic    Chinese     in
    Indonesia, as it relied on country conditions evidence in the
    record   to      find     that,   while         there     continues     to   be
    discrimination against Chinese Christians, the record did not
    establish a pattern or practice of persecution.                   See Santoso
    v. Holder, 
    580 F.3d 110
    , 112 (2d Cir. 2009) (upholding agency
    conclusion of no pattern or practice of persecution in case
    involving similar country conditions evidence). While Lie and
    Jaya argue that the agency did not consider all of the country
    conditions       evidence     presented,         the     record    does      not
    compellingly suggest that the agency failed to consider any
    evidence, particularly as the IJ specifically listed the
    evidence in the record and made repeated reference to the
    -3-
    affidavit of the main expert witness.        See Xiao Ji Chen v.
    U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 
    471 F.3d 315
    , 338 n.17 (2d Cir. 2006).
    In addition, the agency did not err in finding that the
    fact that Jaya remained in Indonesia and continued to attend
    church for over two and one half years after the last incident
    of threats reduced the objective reasonableness of Lie’s and
    Jaya’s fear of future harm.     See Melgar de Torres v. Reno, 
    191 F.3d 307
    , 313 (2d Cir. 1999) (finding that where asylum
    applicant’s    mother   and   daughters   continued   to   live   in
    petitioner’s native country, claim of well-founded fear was
    diminished).
    For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
    DENIED.    As we have completed our review, any stay of removal
    that the Court previously granted in this petition is VACATED,
    and any pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition
    is DISMISSED as moot.    Any pending request for oral argument
    in this petition is DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of
    Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule
    34.1(b).
    FOR THE COURT:
    Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
    -4-