Opinion ID: 3004468
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lack of Credibility

Text: The Immigration and Nationality Act as amended by the REAL ID Act instructs an immigration judge to consider “the totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors” in evaluating the credibility of an applicant. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii). Our review of the judge’s determination is deferential. See Hassan, 571 F.3d at 636-37. We disturb a credibility assessment only in extraordinary circumstances, such as where the judge’s conclusions lack specific, cogent reasons or are based on incomplete or insufficient evidence. See Musollari v. Mukasey, 545 F.3d 505, 508 (7th Cir. 2008), quoting Gjerazi v. Gonzales, 435 F.3d 800, 807 (7th Cir. 2006). The immigration judge concluded that Boika’s testimony was “riddled with inconsistencies,” the most significant of which was a discrepancy between Boika’s testimony and the documentary evidence regarding which university she attended. Throughout her testimony and in her application, Boika claimed that she attended Minsk State Linguistic University. She testified that she became involved in a political organization at the university known as Maladaya Hramada. In Boika’s words, Maladaya Hramada opposed the policies of the Belarusian government and tried “to inform people about the situation in the country.” Boika testified that she was an active member of the group, creating, editing, and distributing political leaflets. Boika stated that in August 2005, she was detained by police officers and beaten while in detention for participating in a scheme to print and distribute Maladaya Hramada leaflets. In March 2006, she was arrested while participating in a protest in Minsk and served twenty-three days in jail. Upon her return to Minsk State following her release, Boika learned she had been expelled. She left Minsk to live with her parents in Brest, nearly 400 kilometers away, though she continued to be engaged in political activities. She was again detained and interrogated in April 2006. With charges still pending against her, Boika left Belarus the following month for the United States, where she had traveled in 2004. No. 10-2504 Page 5 The judge did not find Boika’s testimony credible. Almost all of Boika’s account of her past persecution took place in connection with her studies at Minsk State Linguistic University and her political activities there, leading the judge to conclude that her attendance at Minsk State was “at the very heart of her claim.” But Boika’s 2004 and 2006 U.S. visa applications both stated that she attended Brest State University. In the comments section of her 2006 visa application, a consular officer wrote, “4th year brest state” and “govt pays for education.” The judge gave Boika ample opportunity to explain the discrepancy in universities and found that Boika was unable to provide a plausible explanation. Most troubling to the judge was Boika’s inconsistent testimony regarding the process through which she obtained her visas. Boika first testified that she had personally completed the visa applications and that the information they contained was correct. Later she claimed that a travel agency had completed the visa applications on her behalf and that any errors were carried over through no fault of her own. The judge rejected the possibility that the name of the university listed on her visa applications was a mistake made by a staff person at the travel agency or by a consular officer. The judge also noted that Boika signed both applications, attesting to their truthfulness. We see no ground on which to upset the judge’s credibility determination. An immigration judge may properly base a credibility determination on the consistency between the applicant’s written and oral statements and the internal consistency of each. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii). Unexplained material inconsistencies are a sufficient basis for a judge to find an applicant not credible. See Aung v. Gonzales, 495 F.3d 742, 746 (7th Cir. 2007) (upholding judge’s adverse credibility determination where petitioner was unable to explain inconsistencies and substantial evidence supported the determination). The judge was not compelled to accept the explanation that the consular officer must have misheard or copied the name from another document that an intermediary had prepared. Boika acknowledged that she had reviewed both applications before signing them, and upon signing them, she was swearing to the truthfulness of their contents. Moreover, her claim that an agent prepared her visa materials surfaced for the first time during her testimony. Contrary to Boika’s contention on appeal, when asked during the evidentiary hearing whether she filled out her visa application in 2006, she replied affirmatively. We find no error in the judge’s conclusion that Boika failed to offer an adequate explanation regarding this inconsistency, which was central to her entire application. The judge’s adverse credibility determination rested on other inconsistencies, as well. Boika testified that she could not locate her friend, Larisa Fomina, who was jailed No. 10-2504 Page 6 with her in August 2005, and that she did not know anything about what happened to her after Boika left Belarus. The record contains a letter from Larisa Fomina addressed to Boika at her former address in Illinois. The judge concluded that this document “raises more questions about the central elements of [Boika’s] claim.” Boika also testified that when she came to the United States in 2006, she passed through Paris. A copy of Boika’s passport in the record indicated that Boika in fact passed through Warsaw, Poland, on May 26, 2006, the day she was admitted to the United States. The judge was further troubled by a strange motion filed by an attorney acting on Boika’s behalf indicating that the co-petitioners were divorced and requesting a change of venue. The judge found that Boika never satisfactorily explained the motion, which was later repudiated by Boika’s and Zhits’s new attorney.2 The changes made by the REAL ID Act permit a judge to consider “inaccuracies or falsehoods that do not go to the heart of the asylum applicant’s claim, . . . as part of his consideration of the ‘totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors.’” Kadia v. Gonzales, 501 F.3d 817, 822 (7th Cir. 2007). Here, the judge had a substantial basis for doubting Boika’s credibility. At no time did Boika adequately explain the inconsistencies in her application. The immigration judge acted well within her discretion in concluding from these disparities, as well as from her evaluation of Boika’s demeanor at the hearings, that Boika was not credible. We see no basis for rejecting the judge’s assessment.