16-3612 

Lin v. Sessions 

BIA 

A099 686 013

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 TO A SUMMARY 

ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.

1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals 

2 for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall 

3 United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of 

New York, on the 10th 4 day of July, two thousand eighteen. 

5 

6 PRESENT: 

7 BARRINGTON D. PARKER, 

8 REENA RAGGI, 

9 CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY,

10 Circuit Judges. 

11 _____________________________________ 

12 

13 YUN LIN, 

14 Petitioner, 

15 

16 v. 16-3612

17 NAC 

18 JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, 

19 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, 

20 Respondent. 

21 _____________________________________ 

22 

23 FOR PETITIONER: Gary J. Yerman, New York, NY. 

24 

25 FOR RESPONDENT: Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant 

26 Attorney General; Briena L. 

27 Strippoli, Senior Litigation 

28 Counsel; John M. McAdams, Jr., 

29 Trial Attorney, Office of 

30 Immigration Litigation, United 

31 States Department of Justice, 

32 Washington, DC. 
2

1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 

2 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby 

3 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review 

4 is DENIED. 

5 Petitioner Yun Lin, a native and citizen of the 

6 People’s Republic of China, seeks review of a September 28, 

7 2016, decision of the BIA denying her motion to reopen as 

8 untimely. In re Yun Lin, No. A 099 686 013 (B.I.A. Sept. 

9 28, 2016). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the 

10 underlying facts and procedural history in this case. 

11 The applicable standards of review are well established. 

12 See Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138, 168-69 (2d Cir. 

13 2008). It is undisputed that Lin’s 2016 motion to reopen 

14 was untimely filed more than 6 years after her removal 

15 order became final in 2009. See 8 U.S.C. § 

16 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). However, this 

17 time limitation does not apply if reopening is sought to 

18 apply for asylum “based on changed country conditions 

19 arising in the country of nationality or the country to 

20 which removal has been ordered, if such evidence is 

21 material and was not available and would not have been 

22 discovered or presented at the previous proceeding.” 8 
3

1 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). 

2 The BIA did not err in finding that Lin failed to 

3 demonstrate worsened repression of Christians or harsher 

4 enforcement of the family planning policy. 

5 “In determining whether evidence accompanying a motion 

6 to reopen demonstrates a material change in country 

7 conditions that would justify reopening, [the BIA] 

8 compare[s] the evidence of country conditions submitted 

9 with the motion to those that existed at the time of the 

10 merits hearing below.” In re S-Y-G-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 247, 

11 253 (B.I.A. 2007). As the BIA found, reports from the U.S. 

12 Department of State demonstrate that the Chinese government 

13 has viewed unfavorably and mistreated unregistered 

14 Christian groups since before Lin’s 2007 hearing. 

15 Accordingly, Lin did not meet her burden of showing a 

16 material change as needed to excuse her untimely filing. 

17 Id. As to her family planning claim, the birth of Lin’s 

18 children in the United States was a change in her personal 

19 circumstances, not a change in country conditions as needed 

20 to excuse the time limit. Wei Guang Wang v. BIA, 437 F.3d 

21 270, 273 (2d Cir. 2006) (upholding conclusion “that the 

22 birth of petitioner’s two children in the United States is 
4

1 evidence of . . . changed personal circumstances, as 

2 opposed to changed conditions in China.”). Lin’s country 

3 conditions evidence did not establish a material increase 

4 in enforcement of China’s family planning policy. Indeed, 

5 Lin acknowledged in her motion to reopen that China had 

6 relaxed its strict enforcement of its one-child policy, and 

7 much of her evidence explicitly stated that China’s 

8 coercive population control apparatus remains unchanged. 

9 Contrary to Lin’s assertion, the BIA did not abuse its 

10 discretion by according her incomplete country reports 

11 limited weight. Y.C. v. Holder, 741 F.3d 324, 332 (2d Cir. 

12 2013) (“We generally defer to the agency’s evaluation of 

13 the weight to be afforded an applicant’s documentary 

14 evidence.”); see also BIA Practice Manual Ch. 3.3(e) (“When 

15 a party relies upon any supporting document, a copy of that 

16 document must be provided to the Board and the other 

17 party.”). Moreover, the BIA considered the evidence 

18 presented and, as concluded above, reasonably determined 

19 that the evidence did not establish a material change in 

20 conditions in China. 

21 Because the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying 

22 the motion as untimely based on Lin’s failure to establish a 
5

1 material change in conditions in China, we need not reach the 

2 BIA’s alternative ruling that Lin failed to show her prima 

3 facie eligibility for relief. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 

4 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (“As a general rule courts and agencies 

5 are not required to make findings on issues the decision of 

6 which is unnecessary to the results they reach.”). 

7 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 

8 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of removal 

9 that the Court previously granted in this petition is VACATED, 

10 and any pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition 

11 is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for oral argument 

12 in this petition is DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of 

13 Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule 

14 34.1(b). 

15 FOR THE COURT: 

16 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, 

17 Clerk of Court