Opinion ID: 2977770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Existence of a Third Child

Text: -5- No. 08-3077 Chen v. Holder Chen acknowledged in his hearing before the IJ that he underwent an asylum interview in Chicago, based on the first application he filed, where he was placed under oath and provided with an interpreter who spoke Mandarin. When questioned before the IJ as to why he failed to mention in his initial application the existence of a third child, who allegedly had already been born, Chen stated that he was not sure of the laws in the United States, his attorney simplified his story, and he thought he might be fined for an additional child because he was not sure the United States and China were entirely different. Chen rests his asylum claim on his assertion that he was persecuted, and fears persecution, due to his resistance to China’s family planning policies. His failure to provide a rational explanation as to why he initially omitted the existence of a third child, directly concerns whether or not he was exercising a political opinion that rendered him vulnerable to persecution. Particularly puzzling and destructive to Chen’s asylum claim is the fact that he informed the IJ that it was legal for him to have a second child in the rural village where he lived. During his merits hearing before the IJ, Chen could not explain away the discrepancy this created with his first application, which listed only two children as the basis on which he was persecuted, conceding that: “I’m not so clear about [sic] because the interview for the political asylum officer was very strict and he was yelling and then I told the truth.” Chen’s credibility is damaged on this ground.