Guediara v. Sessions, 701 F. App'x 60

Petitioner Moussa Guediara, a citizen of Côte d’Ivoire, sought asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief based on alleged persecution in 2006.
An Immigration Judge denied relief after finding Guediara not credible; the BIA summarily affirmed the IJ's decision.
Central evidentiary dispute: DHS fingerprint database printouts showed no entry record matching Guediara and indicated different entry information than Guediara’s testimony about his date/manner of entry.
DHS also presented testimony from a fingerprint specialist who explained database procedures and that the prints did not match petitioner’s prints.
Guediara offered identity documents (certificate of citizenship, attestation of identity) and other documentary evidence he said supported his timeline, but some documents had signature mismatches or lacked relevant dates.
The Second Circuit reviewed admissibility of the DHS fingerprint records and the IJ’s adverse credibility finding for substantial evidence and denied the petition for review.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of DHS fingerprint records	DHS should have produced the custodian or chain-of-custody witness; admission without such testimony was unfair	Records are public records prepared in ordinary course; presumed reliable; no evidence undermining them; DHS did call a fingerprint specialist whom petitioner cross-examined	Admission was lawful; records presumptively reliable and no showing of unreliability required DHS to call preparer
Adverse credibility based on entry date discrepancy	Fingerprint database could reflect another person with same name; petitioner’s documents corroborate identity and political activity	Fingerprints contradict petitioner’s entry testimony; petitioner failed to rehabilitate or corroborate timeline; document inconsistencies further undermine credibility	Substantial evidence supports adverse credibility finding; denial of asylum, withholding, and CAT relief affirmed

Felzcerek v. INS, 75 F.3d 112 (2d Cir. 1996) (public records presumptively reliable for admissibility and due process analysis)
Barradas v. Holder, 582 F.3d 754 (7th Cir. 2009) (DHS public records generally do not require preparer testimony)
Xue Hong Yang v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 426 F.3d 520 (2d Cir. 2005) (reviewing BIA summary affirmances by reviewing IJ decision)
Y.C. v. Holder, 741 F.3d 324 (2d Cir. 2013) (deference to agency weight given documentary evidence)
Xiu Xia Lin v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 162 (2d Cir. 2008) (standard for reviewing credibility findings)
Siewe v. Gonzales, 480 F.3d 160 (2d Cir. 2007) (single instance of false testimony can infect entire claim)
Majidi v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 2005) (petitioner must do more than offer a plausible explanation for inconsistencies)
Biao Yang v. Gonzales, 496 F.3d 268 (2d Cir. 2007) (failure to corroborate may bear on credibility)
Paul v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 148 (2d Cir. 2006) (adverse credibility dispositive where claims share the same factual predicate)