Court Opinion

ID: 9497618
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:55:56.775098+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:18.704909
License: Public Domain

NYGAARD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I. respectfully dissent because I do not believe the record compels a conclusion that Petitioner has suffered-or will suffer-mistreatment rising to the level of persecution. Accordingly, remand to the Board is unnecessary and I would deny the petition for review.
The term. “persecution” includes “threats to life, confinement, torture, and economic restrictions so severe that they constitute a threat to life or freedom.” *426Fatin v. I.N.S., 12 F.3d 1233, 1240 (3d Cir.1993). It does not, however, “encompass all treatment that our society regards as unfair, unjust, or even unlawful or unconstitutional.” Id. The IJ-relying on statements Petitioner made in her airport interview-found that Petitioner had not demonstrated mistreatment rising to the level of persecution. (A.R. at 137). This finding is supported by substantial evidence. For instance, during the airport interview, Petitioner stated that she had not been harassed, threatened, or harmed by the government of China or its military. (Id. at 423). She also stated that if sent back to China she would be “treated badly and scorned by the local people.” (Id. at 425). When asked whether she would face any harm other than the scorn of the villagers, she said “[n]o.” (Id.). Under our deferential standard of review, we are not to disturb an IJ’s finding of fact unless the evidence compels a conclusion contrary to that which the IJ reached. Abdille v. Ashcroft, 242 F.3d 477, 483-84 (3d Cir. 2001). Although the evidence in this case might support a conclusion that Petitioner has been persecuted, it does not compel that conclusion. Thus, I would uphold the IJ’s finding that no persecution occurred.
Next, I disagree with the majority that Petitioner’s airport interview is unreliable and therefore potentially entitled to less weight. It is true we have cautioned against over-reliance on inconsistencies between an airport interview and an asylum applicant’s hearing testimony. See Balasubramanrim v. I.N.S., 143 F.3d 157, 162-63 (3d Cir.1998). Caution is required because arriving aliens, hampered by an inability to communicate in English and haunted by traumatic memories, might have difficulty articulating their circumstances with a high degree of consistency. Zubeda v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 463, 476 (3d Cir.2003). Thus, the manner in which information is elicited during an airport interview is critical to its probative value. Id. at 477. In the present case, however, the record reveals a fair, careful, and relatively thorough airport interview.
In Balasubramanrim, 143 F.3d at 162, we found an airport interview insufficiently reliable as evidence for several reasons. The airport interview at issue was conducted in English, and no translator was provided for the petitioner, who was not fluent in English. Id. The transcript of the interview was hand-written, leaving the Court unsure as to how it was prepared or whether it was an accurate recitation of the petitioner’s testimony. Id. And the petitioner was not asked appropriate follow up questions, designed to elicit the details of his asylum claim. Id. None of these problems tainted Petitioner’s interview. Her interview was conducted in Mandarin, Petitioner’s native language. (A.R. at 421). Petitioner signed the typed transcript of the interview, indicating that she had read it or-as is more likely-had it read to her, and that it was a full and accurate record of her interview. (Id. at 425). And, significantly, the immigration official asked appropriate follow up questions, designed to elicit the details of Petitioner’s claim. For instance, when Petitioner said she feared being locked up, the immigration official followed by asking who would lock her up. (Id. at 422). Although we must view with caution reliance on airport interviews, the record before us reflects no reason why such reliance was misplaced here. I do not believe, therefore, that the IJ erred by considering the airport interview. Because Petitioner’s statements in the airport interview were appropriate for consideration, substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that nothing rising to the level of persecution has occurred. I am sympathetic to the suffering Petitioner has endured. Nevertheless, because we must afford due re*427spect to our standard of review, I would deny the petition.