Opinion ID: 2732873
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: March 2011 Hearing

Text: A Mandarin interpreter was used during Zeng’s asylum hearing in March 2011. Zeng had filed the amended asylum application to add information omitted from her first application. According to Zeng’s counsel, information had been omitted because (1) the personal statement attached to Zeng’s prior application had not been read back to her before she signed it and (2) her prior attorneys had told her to include only her family-planning-policy claims, not her religious claims. Zeng testified she currently resided in Florida and was a practicing Catholic. She left China and entered the United States on August 10, 2001, on a K-1 visa. She later had married, although she did not marry her fiancé sponsor, because he would not join the Catholic Church. Zeng was seeking asylum because she learned from a friend she could do so once she was pregnant with her third child. Zeng and her husband had three children who were born in New York. According to Zeng, the Chinese government had persecuted her on account of her religious beliefs. She did not apply for asylum when she first arrived in the United States, because multiple law firms told her she was ineligible to do so, due to her K-1 visa. In 2007, Zeng spoke with “Ms. Lu,” of the Yerman law firm, who told her she could apply for asylum based on China’s family-planning policies. A.R. at 187. Zeng said she told Lu about her religious persecution in China, but was told to exclude it from her application, because it would complicate her case. 5 Case: 13-14431 Date Filed: 09/15/2014 Page: 6 of 16 Zeng testified that, during her upbringing, her father, mother, grandmother, and uncle all had been arrested because of their religious beliefs. Zeng’s mother, who still was in China, had sent Zeng letters indicating her family members could not practice their religion freely and openly. Since leaving China, Zeng had sent various religious materials to underground-church priests in China. She had stopped in December 2010, however, after receiving a letter from her parents stating officials had threatened to arrest her parents if she continued to send materials. Zeng further testified problems with Chinese officials began in 1998, when police raided an underground church, seeking to arrest the priest and nuns. Zeng was working in the kitchen at the time. She and others tried to protect the priest and nuns. The officers asked for the priest’s and nuns’ addresses and burned Zeng’s right forearm with a hot kitchen implement. Zeng was not arrested at that time, although the officers took her name and address. When the IJ asked whether anyone had been arrested, Zeng responded: “Yes, the priest and the nuns.” A.R. at 193. But during cross-examination later in the hearing, Zeng testified that, on the day her arm had been burned, the priest and nuns had escaped. Zeng subsequently testified two raids occurred—the priest and nuns had been arrested in November 1998, when Zeng had been burned, but had escaped during a later raid. 6 Case: 13-14431 Date Filed: 09/15/2014 Page: 7 of 16 Zeng testified she belonged to two churches in New York. Since leaving New York, Zeng had tried attending a Catholic church in Florida, but she could not understand the English services. Instead, she traveled from Florida to New York for church by bus once every four to six weeks. If Zeng returned to China, she would continue to practice her religion in an underground church. During the hearing, a discussion regarding Zeng’s fluency in Mandarin arose. Zeng identified Foo Chow (Fuzhounese) as her best language. The government presented Zeng with the translation affidavit attached to her 2007 personal statement, which stated: “[T]he above statement has been read back to me through a competent English-Chinese interpreter sentence-by-sentence and wordby-word.” A.R. at 1100. Zeng testified she could read the affidavit, which was in Mandarin, however, after she had signed the affidavit, her former attorney, Lu, took it from her before she had a chance to read it. As to her fluency, Zeng explained she previously had identified Mandarin as her best language because an attorney told her a Foo Chow interpreter would be difficult to find. She testified she could communicate adequately in Mandarin, but could express herself better in Foo Chow. Consequently, the IJ adjourned Zeng’s hearing to obtain a new interpreter. 7 Case: 13-14431 Date Filed: 09/15/2014 Page: 8 of 16