Opinion ID: 218362
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Nirmal Singh filed an asylum application soon after he came to the United States in 1994. He claimed that he had been persecuted in India because of his support for the Akali Dal Mann Party. Singh testified that he was arrested and severely beaten three times for his political activities, and that he believed the police murdered his brother for participating in a political protest. The asylum officer disbelieved Singh and referred his application to an immigration judge for adjudication in removal proceedings. A few months later, Singh's wife Kulwant Kaur flew to the United States with their son. Singh picked them up at the airport and brought them to his home in San Jose. After they settled in, Kaur also applied for asylum. Someone apparently advised her that she couldn't be granted asylum if she said she was living with her husband, so she lied on her application form. She claimed that Singh was not in the United States and that she had no information as to his whereabouts. She also falsely indicated that Singh had never applied for asylum. Kaur's interview went better than Singh's. She told the asylum officer that she had been arrested and raped because of her political activities in India. She again lied under oath about not knowing the whereabouts of her husband, and submitted an affidavit from Singh's father also claiming that he didn't know where his son was. And, of course, Kaur didn't mention that Singh had been denied asylum. The asylum officer believed Kaur and granted her application. This gave Singh a second bite at the apple. He told the immigration judge in his own case that he planned to withdraw his asylum application. Rather than fighting the asylum officer's decision, Singh would join his wife's successful application. With Singh present in the courtroom, his lawyer falsely assured the IJ that the couple had only recently found each other here. Their cases were later consolidated. But the government was suspicious, and the asylum officer re-interviewed Kaur with her husband present. Comparing Kaur's story to Singh's, the officer noted that Kaur hadn't previously mentioned that the police in India had murdered her brother-in-law (Singh's brother). Nor did the affidavit Kaur submitted from her father-in-law mention that his own son had been killed. This omission was remarkable because Singh had relied on the alleged killing to prove political persecution against his family. Kaur also gave conflicting dates for when Singh supposedly joined the Akali Dal Mann Party, and different details than her husband about whom he contacted before leaving India. And she continued to lie about when she had found Singh in the United States. Singh was present and spoke to the asylum officer, but said nothing to contradict his wife. The government terminated Kaur's asylum status, effective the day after the interview. When petitioners both went before the immigration judge, Kaur finally admitted that she had lied on her application and twice lied to the asylum officer. The government pressed Singh on his lawyer's false representation that the couple had only recently discovered one another in the United States. Singh claimed he gave the lawyer accurate information about their situation, but the lawyer lied to the court anyway. And Kaur claimed the lawyer advised her to lie to the asylum officer. The IJ gave the couple an opportunity to call the lawyer, but they declined. They have never argued that they received ineffective assistance of counsel. The IJ made an express adverse credibility finding against both Kaur and Singh, and on that basis denied their claims for relief. See Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156-57 (9th Cir.2003). Kaur later received an I-140 visa and requested that the Board of Immigration Appeals reopen her case to consider her application for adjustment of status. The BIA denied the motion.