Opinion ID: 164714
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lack of Explicit Credibility Finding

Text: -8- Mr. Efimov concedes that the IJ found certain aspects of his testimony to be incredible, and he does not challenge those findings on appeal. However, he argues that the adverse credibility finding was directed only to Mr. Efimov’s testimony regarding his criminal history and not to the merits of his application for relief. Because the IJ relied on the lack of credible testimony as one of his grounds for denying asylum and withholding of removal, and, arguably, as the only ground for denying withholding under the Convention Against Torture, Mr. Efimov contends that the lack of a specific credibility finding related to the merits of his testimony requires reversal. 1 Despite Mr. Efimov’s contention, the IJ’s credibility findings were not limited to his testimony about his shoplifting convictions. The IJ made it clear that he did not believe Mr. Efimov’s story about the shoplifting convictions, but he also explained that Mr. Efimov’s lack of candor regarding his criminal history affected the believability of the rest of his testimony: 1 The government contends that we lack jurisdiction to consider the denial of Petitioner’s claim under the Convention Against Torture on the ground that Petitioner failed to raise the issue in his appeal to the BIA. However, Petitioner’s filing with the BIA squarely challenged the IJ’s conclusion that Petitioner’s testimony was insufficient to meet his burden of proof. A.R. 13. The IJ concluded that Petitioner’s testimony was insufficient to meet the burden of proof on all his claims, including his claim under the Convention Against Torture. A.R. 24, 26. Petitioner’s challenge to that conclusion was therefore sufficient to preserve his claim under the Convention Against Torture. -9- The respondent’s credibility of course is very important in assessing his asylum claim . . . . With respect to the respondent’s claim to having suffered at the hands of criminal groups in Russia, this Court believes that the failure to testify credibly about criminal activity in the United States is an important negative factor with respect to credibility regarding the asylum claim. A.R. 23-24. The IJ then cited other instances of Mr. Efimov’s dishonesty, including contracting a “fake marriage” in Russia and failing to disclose criminal history on his asylum application. A.R. 24. The IJ concluded that Mr. Efimov seemed “willing to either embellish the true facts or actually engage in outright misrepresentations in order to advance his own interests.” Id. The IJ’s opinion made it sufficiently clear that he not only thought that Mr. Efimov misrepresented his prior criminal history but that, based on that misrepresentation and on other instances of Mr. Efimov’s past deceptive behavior, he chose not to give full credit to Mr. Efimov’s account of persecution by the Chechen criminals. Mr. Efimov’s testimony was by far the most important evidence offered in support of his claims for asylum and withholding of removal. While an alien’s own testimony alone may be sufficient to establish a claim for asylum or withholding of removal, the IJ may deny the claim if he finds that the testimony is not credible and provides “specific, cogent reasons” for that finding. Sviridov, 358 F.3d at 727. In this case, the IJ’s findings were sufficiently clear and reasonable to support his denial of asylum and withholding of removal. Therefore, the IJ’s decision not to believe that testimony was not simply an -10- irrelevant aside, as Mr. Efimov claims, but rather was dispositive of Mr. Efimov’s claims.