Changwen Lin v. Sessions, 687 F. App'x 109

Petitioner Changwen Lin, a Chinese national, sought asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection based on alleged arrest, detention, and beatings after a police raid on his unregistered church in China and fear of future persecution for religious practice.
An Immigration Judge (IJ) denied relief on July 8, 2015; the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed on February 17, 2016. Lin petitioned this Court for review.
The agency found numerous inconsistencies between Lin’s testimony and documentary evidence (church letterhead, letters from relatives), and internal inconsistencies in his testimony (e.g., frequency of police visits to his mother’s house).
The IJ found Lin evasive and vague about his twin brother’s alleged persecution and discredited family and church letters as lacking weight and unavailable for cross-examination.
The agency concluded Lin failed to provide adequate corroboration and did not offer persuasive explanations for discrepancies; adverse credibility disposed of asylum, withholding, and CAT claims because they shared the same factual predicate.

Issue	Lin's Argument	Sessions' Argument	Held
Adverse credibility determination	Lin asserted police detained and beat him after a church raid; testified about repeated police searches and family harassment	Agency argued testimony conflicted with letters and contained internal inconsistencies and evasive answers	Court upheld adverse credibility; substantial evidence supports IJ/BIA decision
Reliability of documentary evidence and letters	Lin relied on church and family letters to corroborate his account	Government challenged letters as inconsistent (church name/stamp) and noted authors unavailable for cross-examination	Court agreed letters were of little weight and inconsistent with testimony
Corroboration obligation when credibility questioned	Lin claimed twin brother could not testify due to his own pending asylum case; otherwise submitted letters	Government argued Lin failed to sufficiently corroborate material facts and explanations were not compelling	Court held Lin failed to provide sufficient corroboration; agency reasonably discounted explanations
Effect of adverse credibility on all forms of relief	Lin contended even if some testimony doubted, other evidence supported relief	Government argued all claims rested on same factual predicate so credibility defeat bars all relief	Court held credibility ruling dispositive for asylum, withholding, and CAT; petition denied

Wangchuck v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 448 F.3d 524 (2d Cir.) (standard for reviewing IJ and BIA decisions)
Xiu Xia Lin v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 162 (2d Cir.) (factors for credibility determinations)
Majidi v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 77 (2d Cir.) (petitioner must do more than offer plausible explanation for inconsistencies)
Wensheng Yan v. Mukasey, 509 F.3d 63 (2d Cir.) (inherent implausibility supports adverse credibility)
Jin Shui Qiu v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 140 (2d Cir.) (sparse testimony may indicate fabrication)
Shi Liang Lin v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 494 F.3d 296 (2d Cir.) (overruling in part noted)
Biao Yang v. Gonzales, 496 F.3d 268 (2d Cir.) (corroboration requirement when credibility is at issue)
Y.C. v. Holder, 741 F.3d 324 (2d Cir.) (weight of corroborating evidence and cross-examination availability)
Yan Juan Chen v. Holder, 658 F.3d 246 (2d Cir.) (unavailability of a witness not necessarily established by fear of arrest)
Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148 (2d Cir.) (same-factual-predicate rule for multiple forms of relief)