Opinion ID: 2977770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sterilization

Text: Chen also changed his story multiple times between his initial application and his hearing before the IJ as to the circumstances surrounding his allegedly forced sterilization surgery. Chen stated in his merits hearing before the IJ that he suffered forced sterilization after the birth of his -6- No. 08-3077 Chen v. Holder second child. Chen was asked on cross-examination why he did not mention this in his initial application, and he stated that at the time he “was a stupid guy; I didn’t know anything. And now, I’ve been in the United States for awhile and I know.” He also stated in the merits hearing that he was given a choice, following the birth of his second child, between either being sterilized himself or having his wife sterilized. When confronted with an earlier sworn statement in which Chen said he was given a choice between being sterilized or losing his grocery store license, Chen said he did not remember why initially he had made that statement. Chen also could not adequately explain why the Chinese government allegedly waited eighteen months after the birth of his second child, who was born in a public hospital, to sterilize him. Instead, he merely asserted that “we didn’t have any contraceptive method so they, at the time, China was pushing this family planning policies very in urgency.” Before the IJ, Chen stated that his wife was sterilized after the birth of their third child. He also stated that before she was sterilized she had an IUD that accidently fell out. When asked why he had initially said it was secretly removed, he could not provide an explanation. The inconsistencies in Chen’s testimony concerning his sterilization and his wife’s sterilization are material, since their purported sterilizations are one of the main grounds Chen relies upon to demonstrate past persecution. Furthermore, if Chen was actually sterilized, he could have easily corroborated his alleged sterilization through medical evidence. See Matter of Y-B-, 21 I. & N. Dec. at 1139. His failure to submit such evidence further discredits his testimony.