Opinion ID: 2567
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Show Yung Guo

Text: Show Yung Guo, another native of Changle City in Fujian Province, attempted to enter the United States illegally in October 1992. In her initial airport interview, she stated that she had two children and feared forced sterilization were she to return to China. In March 1993, however, she applied for asylum and relief from removal on the ground that she feared forced sterilization in China based on her violation of that country's one-child policy because she had given birth to one child in China and wished to have more children with her husband. By the time Show Yung Guo testified at a merits hearing in January 1996, she could point to the birth of another child in the United States as further support for her claim, and testified she had a total of three children, one of whom she had adopted in China. Further, Show Yung Guo testified to past persecution in China in the form of mandatory IUD implants, despite adverse health effects, and a forced abortion and threatened sterilization. Identifying numerous inconsistencies among Show Yung Guo's airport interview, her asylum application, and her hearing testimony, and taking note of her unconvincing demeanor, the IJ found petitioner not credible except to the extent she had demonstrated that she had given birth to one child in China and one in the United States. See In re Show Yung Guo, No. A 72 461 714, at 7-9 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Jan. 25, 1996). Finding no credible evidence of past persecution in China, the IJ concluded that Show Yung Guo had not demonstrated a well-founded fear of future forced sterilization on removal to that country because she offered no evidence that the birth of a second child in the United States would be deemed a violation of Chinese policy. See id. at 10-11. Accordingly, the IJ ordered removal. The BIA upheld this ruling on direct appeal, see In re Show Yung Guo, No. A 72 461 714 (B.I.A. Aug. 21, 1997), and Show Yung Guo did not petition this court for review.
In June 1999, Show Yung Guo moved the BIA to reopen her removal proceedings, indicating that she wished to apply for CAT relief. Reiterating her claim that she had a total of three children, Show Yung Guo asserted that her past experiences with Chinese family planning authorities convinced her that she would be forcibly sterilized if returned to her native country. The BIA denied the motion in June 2002, noting that Show Yung Guo had not challenged the agency's prior adverse credibility determination, much less explained the record inconsistencies informing that determination. See In re Show Yung Guo, No. A 72 461 714 (B.I.A. June 11, 2002). Her failure credibly to demonstrate past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution thus not only defeated her INA claims for asylum and withholding of removal, but also precluded her from showing the likelihood of future torture necessary to secure CAT relief. See id. at 2.
In September 2003, Show Yung Guo again moved to reopen, this time claiming changed country conditions with respect to the enforcement of China's population control policies against nationals returning from abroad. In support, petitioner presented two documents issued by Changle City and Fujian Province family planning authorities that responded to an inquiry about the application of population policy limits to an individual named Zheng Yu He, whose wife had given birth to a second child while traveling in the United States. Both authorities indicated that population limits were enforceable against Chinese nationals who violated family planning regulations while abroad unless the national had acquired legal permanent residence or three years' legal temporary residence in the foreign country. See May 22, 2003 Administrative Opinion On Sanctions Against Family-Planning Violations, issued by the Changle City Family-Planning Administration (2003 Changle City Administrative Opinion) ¶ 2; 2003 Administrative Decision on Request for Directive from Fuzhou City Administration on Family-Planning in Connection with Birth of a Second Child by Zheng Yu He of Changle City Municipal Bureau of Construction and His Spouse in USA, issued by the Fujian Province Department of Family-Planning Administration (2003 Fujian Province Administrative Decision) ¶ 2. While these two documents did not reference any particular enforcement method that might apply in the circumstances at issue, Show Yung Guo offered a third document indicating that sterilization was mandatory in Changle City upon the birth of a second child. See Q & A for Changle City Family-Planning Information Handbook (July 1999) (1999 Q & A Handbook) ¶ 16. [4] The BIA summarily denied Show Yung Guo's second motion to reopen, finding that the documents at issue were new but insufficient to show the changed circumstances required by the applicable regulation. In re Show Yung Guo, No. A 72 461 714 (B.I.A. Jan. 22, 2004); see 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii).
On Show Yung Guo's petition for review of the denials of her motions to reopen, this court ruled that the BIA had acted within its discretion in denying the first motion because petitioner had failed to support her proposed CAT claim with any additional evidence beyond the story deemed false in the asylum hearing. Shou Yung Guo v. Gonzales, 463 F.3d at 114. At the same time, however, we identified error in the BIA's assessment of the evidence Show Yung Guo marshaled in support of her second motion. Id. at 115. We noted first that the proffered official documents were obviously not available at the time of petitioner's removal hearing because they all post-dated those proceedings. Id. We further characterized the documents as unquestionably material to the issue of whether conditions in China had changed to expose returning Chinese nationals with two children to forced sterilization. Id. Concluding that [i]t is not apparent to us that the BIA ever really paid any attention to the documents, we remanded the case to the BIA with directions to consider Guo's evidence of changed circumstances and to determine whether, in light of any such circumstances, she can establish a well-founded fear of persecution. Id.