Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure * 43(c)(2), Attorney General Michael Mukasey is automatically substituted for former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as a respondent in this case. 06- 295 9-a g Xiav. Mu kas ey 1 2 UNI TEDSTATE S COURT OF APPEALS 3 4 FOR THE S ECOND CIRCUI T 5 6 Aug ustTerm , 2 006 7 8 (Ar gue d: Apr il 24, 20 07 De cid ed: De cember7, 20 07) 9 10 Doc ketNo . 0 6-2 959 -ag 11 12 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x 14 XIUFE N X IA, 15 16 Pet iti one r, 17 18 19 -v. - 20 MIC HAE L MUKA SEY , A tto rne y G ene ral , * 21 22 23 Res pon den t. 24 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x 26 Bef ore : JAC OBS , C hie f Judg e, KEARSE an d P OOL ER, 27 28 Cir cui t Judg es. 29 30 Pet iti on forre vie w o f afi nal de cis ionan d o rde r o f 31 rem ova l o f t he Boa rd of Imm igr ati on App eal s a ffi rmi ng in 32 par t a n i mmi gra tio n j udg e’s de nia l o f a n a ppl ica tio n f or 33 asy lum , w ith hol din g o f r emo val , a nd rel iefun derth e2 1 Con ven tio n Agai nstTo rtu re. 2 Pet iti on den ied . 3 JOS HUABARDAVID , L aw Off ice of 4 Jos huaBa rda vid , N ew Yor k, New 5 Yor k ( Pet er D. Lob el, Ne w Y ork , 6 NewYo rk, onth e b rie f), fo r 7 Pet iti one r. 8 9 NICOLE N. MURLEY, United States 1 0 Department of Justice, Office of 1 1 Immigration Litigation, 1 2 Washington, D.C. (Judy K. Hunt 1 3 and David P. Rhodes, Assistant 1 4 United States Attorneys, for 1 5 Paul I. Perez, United States 1 6 Attorney for the Middle District 1 7 of Florida, Tampa, Florida, on the br ief ), forRe spo nde nt. 18 19 20 DENNIS JACOB S, Chi ef Jud ge: 21 22 Pet iti one r X iu FenXi a, a n ati ve andci tiz en of Chi na, 23 see ks rev iewofa May25 , 2 006 or derofth e B oar d o f 24 Imm igr ati on App eal s ( “BI A”) af firmin g i n p artth e D ece mbe r 25 7, 200 4 d eci sio n o f t he Imm igr ati on Jud ge den yin g X ia’ s 26 app lic ati ons fo r a syl um, wi thh old ingofre mov al pur sua nt to 27 8 U .S. C. § 1 231 (b) (3) , a nd wit hho ldi ng of rem ova l p urs uan t 28 to the Co nve nti on Aga ins t T ort ure (“ CAT ”). I n r e X ia, No . 29 A98 22 8 3 56 (B. I.A . M ay 25, 20 06) , a ff’ g N o. A98 22 8 3 56 30 (Immig . C t. N.Y . C ityDe c. 7, 200 4). X ia cla ims th at she 31 arr ang ed to hav e a n a bor tio n i n o rde r t o a voi d a dve rse 32 con sequen ces , p oss ibl y i ncl udi ng the ha rshtr eat men t a nd3 1 sub sta nda rd med ica l c ond iti ons at tri but ed to an abo rti on or 2 ste ril iza tio n a t t he han ds of Chi nes e g ove rnmentca dre s; 3 tha t s he was th us sub jec tedtoa for cedab ort ionun der 4 Chi na’ s f ami ly- pla nni ng pol icy ; a nd tha t s he is the ref ore a 5 “re fug ee” as th at term i s d efi nedin8 U.S .C. § 110 1(a )(4 2). 6 The BI A c onc lud ed tha t h er abo rti on was no t “ for ced ” 7 wit hinth e mean ingof§ 110 1(a )(4 2) bec aus e “ the Ch ine se 8 gov ernmen t w as comple tel y u naw are ofhe r p reg nan cy anddi d 9 notkn ow tha t s he hadanab ort ion .” Inre Xi a, No. A9 8 2 28 10 356 , a t 2 (B .I. A. May25 , 2 006 ). We ag ree ; a nd the ref ore we 11 den y t he pet iti on. “ An abo rti on is not‘f orc ed’ wi thi n t he 12 mea nin g o f t he ref uge e d efi nit ion. . . un les s t he 13 thr eat ene d h armfo r r efu sal wo uld , i f c arr iedou t, be 14 suf fic ien tlyse ver e t hatitam oun ts to per sec uti on. ” In re 15 T-Z -, 24 I. & N . D ec. 16 3, 169 (B .I. A. 200 7). B eca use no 16 gov ernmen t o ffi cia l w as awa re of Xia ’s pre gna ncy , s he has 17 notsu ffi cie ntl y e sta bli she d ath rea ten ed harm, letal one a 18 thr eat ene d h armsose ver e a s t o r ise toth e l eve l o f 19 per sec uti on. 20 21 I 22 Xiais a 32- yea r-o ld wom an fro m W enz houCi ty, Zh eji ang4 1 Pro vin ce, Ch ina . In 200 3 X ia arr ive d i n t he Uni tedSt ate s; 2 andin20 04 she ap pli ed foras ylum, wit hho ldi ng of rem ova l, 3 andre lie f u nde r t he CAT . One mo nthla terth e g ove rnment 4 ins tit ute d r emo val pr oce edi ngs ag ain st her . 5 At a h ear ingonDe cember7, 20 04, Xi a t est ifi ed as 6 fol low s: she an d h er hus ban d w ere ma rri ed in 199 5; she ga ve 7 bir th to a c hil d i n 1 997 an d w as fin ed 5,0 00 RMBbe cau se the 8 mar ria ge hadno t b eenre gis ter ed at the ti me she ga ve bir th; 9 the Ch ine se gov ernmen t f orc ed hertous e a n I UD in 199 8; she 10 was re qui redtore cei ve “ch eck ups ” t hre e t ime s aye ar to 11 ens ure th at the IU D w as in pla ce andth at she wa s n ot 12 pre gna nt; sh e b ecame pre gna nt bef ore he r O cto ber20 00 13 che cku p; herre sul tin g d ile mmawa s t hatifsh e s kip pedth e 14 Oct obe r c hec kup , s he wou ld hav e b eenar res ted , b ut if she 15 att end ed the ch eck up, of fic ial s w oul d h ave di sco ver ed the 16 pre gna ncy . 17 Xiate sti fie d t hatifof fic ial s d isc ove redhe r 18 pre gna ncysh e c oul d b e s ubj ecttoth e f oll owi ng pun ishmen ts: 19 “I wou ld getst eri liz ed rig ht awa y”; “I wo uldpa y are all y 20 hea vy fin e”; “t heywi ll tak e me f orc ibl y f or an abo rti on” ; 21 “th ey are go ingtoar res t m y f ami l[y ] memb ers ”; andth e 22 “Go ver nme nt wil l c ome toar res t me.” T her efo re (sh e s ays )5 1 she de cid ed to obt ainanab ort ion , e venth oug h s he “re all y 2 [di dn’ t] wan t t o h ave [i t]. ” Xiaal so tes tif ied , h owe ver , 3 tha t s he obt ain ed the ab ort ionbe cau se: “I f w e h ave th is 4 chi ld[ ,] whe n i t g row s u p wher e i s t he bab y g oin g t o 5 sta y[? ]” 6 Bef ore th e s che dul ed Oct obe r c hec kup , X ia wen t t o a 7 pri vat e h osp ita l a nd abo rte d h er pre gna ncy ; t he gov ernmen t 8 didno t k nowofhe r p reg nan cy or the ab ort ion . 9 10 II 11 The IJde nie d X ia’ s a ppl ica tio ns on the al ter nat e 12 gro und s t hatXi a w as notcr edi ble an d t hat(e venifsh e w ere 13 cre dib le) he r t est imo ny est abl ish ed tha t t he termin ati on of 14 herpr egn anc y w as vol unt aryra the r t hanfo rce d. Inre Xi a, 15 No. A9 8 2 28 356 , a t 1 2-1 3 ( Imm ig. Ct . N .Y. Ci ty Dec . 7 , 16 200 4). T he BIAdi d n ot aff irmth e I J’s adver se cre dib ili ty 17 fin din g, In re Xia , N o. A98 22 8 3 56, at1 (B. I.A . M ay 25, 18 200 6), bu t a gre ed wit h t he IJ tha t X ia “di d n ot est abl ish 19 herel igi bil ityfo r a syl um, wi thh old ingofre mov al and 20 pro tec tio n u nde r t he [CA T] . . . [be cau se] sh e c hos e t o 21 und erg o a n a bor tio n b y apr iva te doc tor. . . [a nd] th e 22 Chi nes e g ove rnmentwa s c omp let elyun awa re of herpr egn anc yXi a a lsoar gue s t hatsh e “ suf fer ed pas t p ers ecu tio n 1 andha s awe ll fou nde d f earoffu tur e p ers ecu tio n whensh e hadanIU D f orc ibl y i nse rte d.” B ut thi s p oin t w as not rai sedbe for e t he BIA , s o w e d o n ot add res s i t h ere . See LinZh ongv. U. S. Dep ’t of Jus tic e, 480 F. 3d 104 (2 d C ir. 200 7). 6 1 anddi d n ot kno w t hatsh e h ad an abo rti on, ” i d. at 1-2 . 2 Xia ’s pet iti on forre vie w a rgu es tha t s he is eli gib le for 3 asy lumbe cau se the ci rcumst anc es of herab ort ion“meetth e 4 def ini tio n o f ‘ for ced ’ w ith in the me ani ng of 8 U .S. C. § 5 110 1(a )(4 2)( B) . . . [an d] fit [] per fec tlywi thi n t he 6 ord ina ry mea nin g o f t he wor d ‘ for ce. ’” S he doe s n ot 1 7 mea nin gfu llych all eng e t he BIA ’s dec isi on wit h r esp ectto 8 herap pli cat ion s f or wit hho ldi ng of rem ova l o r r eli ef und er 9 the CA T. 10 We rev iewth e B IA’ s f act ual fi ndi ngs un derth e 11 sub sta nti al evi den ce sta nda rd andtr eatth em as “co ncl usi ve 12 unl ess an y r eas ona ble ad jud ica torwo uldbe co mpe lle d t o 13 con clu de to the co ntr ary .” 8 U.S .C. § 125 2(b )(4 )(B ). Th e 14 BIA ’s app lic ati on of lawtofa ct is rev iew ed de nov o. Se e 15 Yi Lon g Y angv. Go nza les , 4 78 F.3 d 1 33, 14 1 ( 2d Cir . 2 007 ); 16 see al so JinSh ui Qiuv. As hcr oft , 3 29 F.3 d 1 40, 14 9 ( 2d 17 Cir . 2 003 ). 187 1 III 2 Und er the Immig rat ionan d N ati ona lit y A ct (“I NA” ), a 3 pet iti one r i s e lig ibl e f or asy lumifsh e s uff ere d p ast 4 per sec uti on or has a wel l-f oun dedfe ar of fut ure pe rse cut ion 5 on acc oun t o f ast atu tor ily -de fin ed pro tec tedgr oun d. Se e 8 6 U.S .C. § 110 1(a )(4 2); se e a lsoJi n S hui Qi u, 329 F. 3d at 7 148 . The INA w as ame nde d i n 1 996 topr ovi de tha t “ a p ers on 8 whoha s b eenfo rce d t o a bor t apr egn anc y . . . o r who has 9 bee n p ers ecu tedfo r f ail ure orre fus al to und erg o s ucha 10 pro cedure orfo r o the r r esi ste nce toa coe rci ve pop ula tio n 11 con tro l p rog ramsh all be de eme d t o h ave be en per sec ute d o n 12 acc oun t o f p oli tic al opi nio n.” 8 U. S.C . §11 01( a)( 42) . 13 The INA d oes no t d efi ne “fo rce d,” an d t he term a ffo rds 14 lat itu de forin ter pre tat ion . In suc h c irc ums tan ces , “ [w] e 15 def er to the BI A’s re aso nab le con str uct ion s o f t he 16 imm igr ati on law s.” K yawZw ar Tunv. IN S, 445 F. 3d 554 , 5 62 17 (2dCi r. 200 6); se e a lsoJi an Hui Sh ao v. BIA , 4 65 F.3 d 4 97, 18 502 (2 d C ir. 20 06) (“ [T] he BIAis en tit ledtode fer enc e when 19 it int erp ret s t he [INA]. ”). Whenth is app eal wa s h ear d, the 20 BIAha d y et to iss ue a c ons tru cti on (re aso nab le or 21 oth erw ise ) o f t he term “ for ced .” Ho wev er, tw o w eek s a fte r 22 ora l a rgumen t t he BIAde cid ed In re T-Z -, whi ch und ert ookto8 1 “de riv e t he mea nin g o f a‘f orc ed’ ab ort ion .” 24 I. & N. 2 Dec . a t 1 67. B othpa rti es con ten d t hatInre T- Z- sup por ts 3 the ir pos iti ons ; n eit herar gue s t hatInre T- Z- is 4 unr eas ona ble an d t her efo re und ese rvi ng of Che vro n d efe ren ce. 5 Acc ord ing ly, we ha ve no occ asi on to dec ide wh eth er suc h 6 def ere nce is du e. 7 In re T-Z - c onc lud ed tha t: 8 the qu est ionwh eth er an abo rti on is “fo rce d” 9 wit hinth e mean ingof[§11 01( a)( 42) ] s hou ld be 10 eva lua tedinte rms ofwh eth er the ap pli can t w oul d 11 hav e o the rwi se bee n s ubj ect ed to harm o f 12 suf fic ien t s eve rit y t hatitam oun ts to 13 per sec uti on. T her efo re, anab ort ionis “f orc ed” . 14 . . wh en a r eas ona ble pe rso n w oul d o bje cti vel y 15 vie w t he thr eat s f or ref usi ng the ab ort iontobe 16 gen uin e, andth e t hre ate nedha rm, ifca rri ed out , 17 wou ld ris e t o t he lev el of per sec uti on. 18 19 . . . . 20 21 . . . Pe rse cut oryfo rce . . . is fo rce wh ich , 22 if car rie d o ut, wo uldme et or exc eedth e l eve l o f 23 harm r equ ire tode mon str ate pe rse cut ion . The te rm 24 “pe rse cut ion ” i s n ot lim ite d t o p hys ica l h armor 25 thr eat s o f p hys ica l h arman d m ay inc lud e t hre ats 26 of eco nom ic harm, so lon g a s t he thr eat s, if 27 car rie d o ut, wo uldbe ofsu ffi cie nt sev eri ty tha t 28 the y amou nt to pas t p ers ecu tio n. No t a ll thr eat s 29 of fin es, wa ge reduct ion , o r l oss ofemplo yme nt, 30 how eve r, wil l s uff ice toin dic ate th at submis sio n 31 to an abo rti on was “f orc ed” . . . . 32 33 . . . . 34 35 36 . . . Th e s tat ute re qui res th at the ab ort ion 37 be “fo rce d,” no t mere ly tha t ape rso n c hoo se anNor has Xia established the existence of a universal 2 law or custom or practice having the force of law ensuring that she would have suffered a forced abortion or sterilization. 9 1 unp ref err ed cou rse ofac tio n a s t he res ultofso me 2 pre ssu re tha t s way s t he cho ice . The me re fac t o f 3 submis sio n t o p res sur e o nlyte lls us th at the 4 par tic ula r p ers on’ s p ref ere nce wa s a lte red . It is 5 ins uff ici ent , b y i tse lf, tote ll us the le vel of 6 tha t p res sur e o r whet heritre aso nab ly canbe 7 equ ate d t o “ for ce. ” 8 9 24 I. & N . D ec. at16 8-7 0. 10 11 IV 12 We agr ee wit h t he BIA ’s con clu sio n t hatXi a’s ab ort ion 13 was no t f orc ed. X ia con ced es tha t t he Chi nes e g ove rnment 14 was un awa re of herpr egn anc y. Th ere for e, Xia ’s lis t o f 15 pot ent ial pu nis hme nts (s ter ili zat ion , f ine , a rre st, fo rce d 16 abo rti on, orar res t o f f ami ly member s) is nota lis t o f 17 harms tha t w ere th rea ten ed; ra the r, it is a l istofwo rri es 18 abo ut wha t p uni shmentXi a m igh t h ave fa cedha d g ove rnment 19 off ici als ev ent ual ly lea rne d o f h er pre gna ncy . Butba sedon 20 Xia ’s dec isi on to termin ate he r p reg nan cy, th ese 21 con tin gen cie s n eve r d eve lop ed in fac t o r a s t hre at. 2 22 The di sti nct iondr awnbyInre T- Z- bet wee n “ submis sio n 23 to pre ssu re” an d “ for ce, ” 2 4 I . & N. De c. at 169 -70 ,10 1 requir es evi den ce as to the pr ess ure ac tua llyex ert ed on a 2 par tic ula r p eti tio ner . Xiaca nno t e sta bli sh tha t s he fac ed 3 a t hre at tha t amou nte d t o p ers ecu tio n w ith outth e t hre sho ld 4 sho win g t hata pal pab le thr eatex ist ed. F or exampl e, Xia 5 cla ims th at she orme mbe rs of herfamil y m igh t h ave be en 6 arr est ed hadsh e n ot und erg one th e a bor tio n; butbe cau se 7 thi s r iskofar res t w as hyp oth eti cal , X ia can notes tab lis h 8 tha t t he cir cum sta nce s s urr oun din g t he arr estwo uldha ve 9 ris en to the le vel ofpe rse cut ion . See , e .g. , B esk ovi c v . 10 Gon zal es, 46 7 F .3d22 3, 226 & n.3 (2 d C ir. 20 06) (s tat ing 11 tha t d ete nti on wit hou t p hys ica l a bus e d oes no t a lwa ys 12 con sti tut e p ers ecu tio n a nd requir inga “ca se- by- cas e” 13 inquir y). S imi lar ly, sh e c ann ot est abl ishth at she ri ske d 14 “an yth ingmo re tha n m ode st fee s o r f ine s,” wh ichal so wou ld 15 notri se to the le vel ofpe rse cut ion . Jia n X ingHu angv. 16 INS , 4 21 F.3 d 1 25, 12 7, 129 (2 d C ir. 20 05) (p er cur iam ). 17 Xiaco nte nds th at the th rea ten ed harms are no t 18 spe cul ati ve, be cau se gov ernmen t o ffi cia ls wou ld hav e 19 cer tai nlydi sco ver ed herpr egn anc y a t t he Oct obe r c hec kup . 20 Thi s a rgumen t f ail s. Ho wev er, ev en if it wer e c ert ainth at 21 Xiawo uldfa ce some p uni shmentfo llo win g t he Oct obe r 22 che cku p, spe cul ati on as to wha t t hatpu nis hme nt mig ht hav e11 1 bee n c ann ot est abl ishth at the th rea ten ed harm w oul d h ave 2 ris en to the le vel ofpe rse cut ion . Notal l p uni shmentis 3 per sec uti on. S ee, e. g., Be sko vic , 4 67 F.3 d a t 2 26. B eca use 4 Xiapr ovi dednoev ide nce re gar din g t he ris ks ass oci ate d w ith 5 an arr estofun cer tai n dura tio n, letal one th e r iskof 6 ste ril iza tio n o r f orc ed abo rti on, sh e d id notes tab lis h a 7 thr eatofpe rse cut ion . See id . 8 We rec ogn ize d b efo re In re T-Z - t hatan“e sse nti al” 9 ele men t o f f orc e i s “ tha t t he age nts ofco erc ionwe re 10 gov ernmen t b irt h c ont rol of fic ial s.” J in Shu i Q iu, 32 9 F .3d 11 at 151 ; s ee als o i d. (“Afo rce d s ter ili zat ion. . . ca n b e 12 eff ect ed by one ar res tin g o ffi cia l o r t en; wi th an arr estin 13 the mo rni ng or the ev eni ng, inth e r ainorinth e s uns hin e; 14 wit h ade ten tio n f or no lon gerth an the ti me it tak es to 15 per form t he sur ger y, or a d ete nti on fora term o f y ear s . . 16 . . ”); cf . L au MaySu i v . A shc rof t, 395 F. 3d 863 , 8 71 (8t h 17 Cir . 2 005 ) ( rea din g “ for ce” tore qui re “th at Chi nes e 18 off ici als us ed some s ortofph ysi cal fo rce orun due pr ess ure 19 wit h t he int enttoca use , a nd whi ch didca use , t he 20 par tic ula r a bor tio n i n ques tio n,” an d c onc lud ingth at the 21 pet iti one r d id notes tab lis h f orc e wher e “ it is und isp ute d 22 tha t n o C hin ese of fic ial kn ew at the ti me tha t [ the12 1 pet iti one r] was pr egn ant ”). H ere , t he rec ordis cl earth at 2 no gov ernmen t o ffi cia l w as awa re of Xia ’s pre gna ncyorhe r 3 abo rti on; th ere for e n o g ove rnmentof fic ial fo rce d X ia to 4 termin ate he r p reg nan cy. 5 Xiare lie s o n t wo Nin th Cir cui t c ase s: Din g v . 6 Ash cro ft, 38 7 F .3d11 31 (9t h C ir. 20 04) , a nd Wan g v . 7 Ash cro ft, 34 1 F .3d10 15, 10 20 (9t h C ir. 20 03) . How eve r, the 8 BIAha s e xpr ess ly “di sag ree [d] wi th . . . the de cis ion s i n 9 Din g a nd Wan g t o t he ext entth at the y s ugg estth at thr eat s 10 of eco nom ic harm t hatdono t r ise toth e l eve l o f 11 per sec uti on, ifca rri ed out , w oul d s uff ice tode mon str ate 12 tha t a n a bor tio n w as ‘fo rce d’ wit hinth e mean ingofth e 13 sta tut e.” I n r e T -Z- , 2 4 I . & N. De c. at 169 . Andev en in 14 Din g a nd Wan g, gov ernmen t o ffi cia ls wer e a ctu all y a war e o f 15 the pe tit ion er’ s p reg nan cy andto ok dir ectme asu res ta rge ted 16 aga ins t t he pet iti one r t o c omp el hertoun der go an abo rti on. 17 See Di ng, 38 7 F .3dat11 39 (ho ldi ng tha t a bor tio n w as for ced 18 whe n g ove rnmentof fic ial s f orc ed the pe tit ion er “in to a v an, 19 to a h osp ita l, int o aro om, an d o ntoa sur gic al tab le for 20 the ab ort ion ” b efo re the pe tit ion er submit ted ); Wan g, 341 21 F.3 d a t 1 020 (9 th Cir . 2 003 ) ( hol din g t hatab ort ionwa s 22 for cedwh en gov ernmen t o ffi cia ls “ha ras sed[t he pet iti one r]13 1 by eit herde duc tin g h er wag es, th rea ten inghe r j ob 2 sta bil ity , o r t hre ate nin g t o i mpo se unr eas ona blyhi gh fin es” 3 unt il the pe tit ion er “su bmi tte d t o t he pre ssu re” ). 4 5 V 6 Xia ’s sup ple men tal br iefco nce des th at [i] th e r eco rd 7 “is . . . la rge ly def ici ent ” a s t o X ia’ s f ina nci al sit uat ion 8 andhe r a bil itytopa y afi ne, an d [ ii] th e r eco rd “is 9 sig nif ica ntl y d evo id of anydi scu ssi on reg ard ingwh at, if 10 any , e con omi c d epr iva tio n M s. Xiafe are d.” A cco rdi ngl y, Xia 11 reques ts a “ rem andfo r f urt herfa ct- fin din g” so tha t s he can 12 adduce ad dit ion al evi den ce of herfe ar. 13 Xia ’s reques t mustbe de nie d. We ca nno t o rde r t he BIA 14 to reo penth e r eco rd forth e t aki ng of add iti ona l e vid enc e 15 whe re, as he re, “t he age ncyre gul ati ons se t f ort h p roc edu res 16 to reo pen .” Xi ao Xin g N i v . G onz ale s, 494 F. 3d 260 , 2 69 (2d 17 Cir . 2 007 ). Th e a ppr opr iat e a ven ue forsu ch rel iefwo uldbe 18 to fil e amo tio n t o r eop en in the ag enc y. Se e 8 C. F.R . § 19 100 3.2 (c) . In anyev ent , X ia alr ead y h as hada rea son abl e 20 opp ort uni ty to pre sen t t he evi den ce she no w s eek s t o a dd to 21 the re cor d. Ev en bef ore Inre T- Z-, th e s eri ous nes s o f a 22 pot ent ial fi ne andth e e ffe ct of suc h afi ne wer e h eldto14 1 hav e b ear ingonth e ques tio n o f p ers ecu tio n. Se e 2 Iva nis hvi li v. U.S . D ep’ t o f Just ice , 4 33 F.3 d 3 32, 34 1 ( 2d 3 Cir . 2 006 ). Sh e t her efo re hadanin cen tiv e t o p res ent 4 evi den ce of the ec ono micha rds hipsh e w oul d f ace ; a nd she 5 off ers noexpla nat ionfo r why she di d n ot, orwh y s he sho uld 6 be all owe d t o d o s o n ow whe n s he didno t d o s o t hen . 7 Xia ’s reques t f or a r ema nd to sup ple men t t he rec ord 8 rai ses a col lat era l i ssu e t hatsh oul d b e ( bri efl y) 9 add res sed . The BI A d id notap plyInre T- Z- in Xia ’s cas e 10 bec aus e t he dec isi on hadno t y et iss ued . The Su pre me Cou rt 11 has in str uct ed tha t “ a c our t r evi ewi ng an age ncyde cis ion 12 fol low inganin ter ven ingch ang e o f p oli cy by the ag enc y 13 sho uldre man d t o p erm it the ag enc y t o d eci de in the fi rst 14 ins tan ce whe the r g ivi ng the ch ang e r etr osp ect ive ef fec t w ill 15 bes t e ffe ctu ate th e p oli cie s u nde rly ingth e a gen cy’ s 16 gov ern ingac t.” N LRBv. Fo od Sto re Emp loy ees Un ion , 4 17 17 U.S . 1 , 1 0 n .10 (1 974 ). Bu t t he Cou rt’ s i nst ruc tio n d oes 18 notco mpe l are man d h ere . 19 Fir st, ne ith er par ty has re que ste d are man d f or the 20 pur pos e o f d ete rmi nin g whet herInre T- Z- sho uldbe ap pli ed 21 to Xiare tro spe cti vel y. Bo th Xiaan d t he gov ernmen t a gre e 22 tha t I n r e T -Z- go ver ns Xia ’s pet iti on; an d e venXi a’s15 1 reques t f or the ta kin g o f a ddi tio nal ev ide nce pr esu ppo ses 2 tha t t he evi den ce wou ld be rel eva nt to mee t t he sta nda rd set 3 outinInre T- Z-. S he doe s n ot arg ue tha t i t w oul d b e 4 unf airtoap plyInre T- Z- or tha t I n r e T -Z- wo uldre sul t 5 in a d iff ere nt or unf avo rab le out come. 6 Sec ond , a nd mor e f und ame nta lly , n eit herpa rtyco nte nds 7 tha t I n r e T -Z- re pre sen ts a “ cha nge ofpo lic y” by the BI A. 8 Rat her , I n r e T -Z- am oun ts to a f orm al art icu lat ionofth e 9 sta nda rd tha t w as act ual ly app lie d i n t he BIA ’s res olu tio n 10 of Xia ’s cas e. If , a s h ere , t he BIA ’s ini tia l u npu bli she d 11 dec isi on was pr ope r a nd sup por tedbysu bst ant ial ev ide nce , 12 the n asu bse que nt pre ced ent ial BI A d eci sio n t hatva lid ate s 13 the ag enc y’s in iti al rea son ingdo es notco nst itu te a “ cha nge 14 of pol icy ”-- andFo od Sto re Emp loy ees th ere for e d oes no t 15 jus tif y are man d. 16 Ourre fus al to rem andinth is cas e d oes no t l eav e 17 fut ure pe tit ion ers de fen sel ess ag ain st the ap pli cat ionof 18 str ictne w s tan dar ds setfo rthinin ter ven ingde cis ion s, or 19 dep riv e t hemofth e b ene fitofne w m ore fa vor abl e d eci sio ns. 20 If suc h d eci sio ns are tr ulyne w, the n p eti tio ner s c an see k 21 rem andun derFo od Sto re Emp loy ees soth at the BI A c an 22 det erm ine inth e f irs t i nst anc e i f t he newru le sho uldbe16 1 app lie d t o t he pet iti one r’s ca se. O r, if the ru le 2 rep res ent s a n i rra tio nal de par tur e f rompr iorde cis ion s, it 3 is pos sib le tha t t he rul e i tse lf wou ld be “ov ert urn ed as 4 arb itr ary , c apr ici ous , o r a n a bus e o f d isc ret ion .” IN S v . 5 Yue h-S hai o Y ang , 5 19 U.S . 2 6, 32 (19 96) (i nte rna l quot ati on 6 mar ks andemend ati ons om itt ed) . Butth ere is none ed to 7 rem andwh ere , a s h ere : [ i] the BI A’s de cis ionis su ppo rte d 8 by sub sta nti al evi den ce; [i i] no val id cha lle nge is ra ise d 9 aga ins t C hev ronde fer enc e; [ii i] the in ter ven ingde cis ion 10 sup por ts andva lid ate s t he rea son ingofth e d eci sio n u nde r 11 rev iew ; a nd [iv ] t he int erv eni ng dec isi on doe s n ot amo untto 12 a p ivo t i n a gen cy pol icy . 13 14 * * * 15 Forth e r eas ons se t f ort h a bov e, the pe tit ionis he reb y 16 den ied . Hav ingco mpl ete d o ur rev iew , t his Co urt ’s pre vio us 17 ord er gra nti ng a m oti on forst ay of rem ova l i s v aca ted , a nd 18 the mo tio n f or a s tayofre mov al is dis mis sedas mo ot. 19