Opinion ID: 2974249
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: bah’s credibility

Text: For asylum, Bah “must demonstrate that [she] qualifies as a refugee by producing evidence that [she] has suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution.” Yu, 364 F.3d at 703. As stated above, the IJ’s determination of Bah’s credibility is reviewed under the highly deferential “substantial evidence” standard, and is reversed only if “any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B) (emphasis added). As in Yu, the decision of the IJ regarding Bah’s credibility should be upheld “because the IJ laid out numerous grounds for his adverse credibility finding.” 364 F.3d at 703. The IJ noted discrepancies between Bah’s statements to the Asylum Officer during her earlier interview, her application, and her later testimony. Specifically, Bah claimed to be actively involved in the RPG to the point of attending national meetings of the party. She admitted, “I did not make decisions during these [headquarters] meetings, it was my job to inform the other members of the party of the decisions that had been made by the leaders and the reasons why these decisions had been made,” and that she made clothes for the party and recruited members. The IJ remarked that “her level of involvement would not seem to entitle her to go to the meetings in Matan, although, perhaps, as a cousin of [Sow], she had special dispensation.” When meeting with the 1 Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(e)(4)(i), a single member of the BIA may affirm the decision of the IJ without opinion if the Board member determines that: (1) “the result reached in the decision under review is correct;” (2) “any errors in the decision under review were harmless or immaterial”; and (3) either that “(A) [t]he issues on appeal are squarely controlled by existing Board or federal court precedent and do not involve the application of precedent to a novel factual situation”; or “(B) [t]he factual and legal issues raised on appeal are not so substantial that the case warrants the issuance of a written opinion in the case.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(e)(4)(i). 2 Additionally, we have stated that the “streamlined-affirmance-without-opinion procedure is not a dismissal, but instead a review of the merits of an appeal.” Hassan v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 429, 433 (6th Cir. 2005) (citing Denko, 351 F.3d at 729 (noting that streamlining cases receive full consideration from the BIA)). No. 04-3454 Bah v. Gonzales Page 4 Asylum Officer, however, she was neither unable to identify what the initials RPG stood for, nor was she able to describe the party logo. At her hearing before the IJ, she was able to identify the full name of the RPG, but was still unable to fully describe the logo. Bah also stated in her application that only her husband was arrested at a protest on December 17, 1998, and that nearly a year later, on November 18, 1999, she was arrested and taken to Sureté. These claims were repeated in her interview with the Asylum Officer. However, both in her declaration and before the IJ she claims she was also arrested on December 21, 1998. Bah now contends that “this error was made by the person who originally filled out [the] asylum application, [and] that she did not correct it because she could not read English, and that she told the asylum officer the correct date.” However, a translation error does not reconcile that on two instances she stated that she and her husband were arrested, and on two other instances she claimed that the two of them were arrested eleven months apart. Additionally, in her application, she failed to “provide a detailed explanation of [her or her] relatives’ involvement” with RPG, as required; instead, she merely claimed to be a member of RPG and a supporter of Alpha Condé. Initially, she described soldiers equipped with gas masks “fir[ing] tear gas canisters among and all over the people” following the December 1998 demonstration. Before the IJ she described what seems to be pepper spray – “It’s something ... spicy, something like when you eat it, its spicy and hot. . . . It’s not actually gas,” – sprayed into individual faces. There are also discrepancies regarding how she left the prison. In her initial application, she stated that on May 1, 2001, her brother arranged her escape from prison. At that time he told her that her house had been destroyed by the government and that her children were living with her mother in the village. Later, she stated that she was released for unknown reasons on May 2 and given 200 franc Guinea for cab fare. In this version, she arrives at her brother’s home where he informs her that she is to travel to America. There is no mention of the destruction of her house. Finally, before the IJ, Bah rested her asylum claim in part on her fears that her four daughters would be subject to FGM. This claim was not articulated in her original application, nor was it apparently articulated to the Asylum Officer. It was, however, included in the declaration written after the interview with the Asylum Officer. Bah states that she is fearful that her daughters will be subjected to FGM, and she wishes to prevent it, but that if they remain in Guinea she will not be able to. The IJ discounted Bah’s fears because she left her daughters in the care of her mother – who presumably ensured that Bah underwent the procedure – rather than seeking to either bring her daughters with her or find them alternative housing. According to a State Department Report, FGM is illegal in Guinea, and Bah has not shown that her family would subject her daughters to FGM over her opposition; however, Bah’s mother allegedly wrote: “you know that your daughters must be excised because they are old enough.” The IJ’s determination that Bah lacked credibility was not based on overwhelming evidence; however, Bah has not met the “high standard of compelling a contrary result.” Yu, 364 F.3d at 700. Accordingly, the IJ’s decision is based on reasonable, substantial evidence.