Jin Zou v. Sessions, 703 F. App'x 41

Petitioner Jin Zou, a Chinese national from Fujian province, sought asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief based on his practice of Christianity in the United States.
An IJ denied relief after an adverse credibility determination; the BIA affirmed in an August 31, 2016 decision (affirming the IJ as modified).
The government moved for summary denial of the Second Circuit petition; the court treated that motion as a response because Zou filed a merits brief.
Zou conceded he practices Christianity in the U.S.; his claim depended on demonstrating an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution by Chinese authorities based on U.S.-based religious activity.
The agency found country conditions evidence showed only some segments of Chinese Christians are targeted and there were no reports of arrests in Zou’s home province; the BIA also denied Zou’s motion to remand to consider later State Department reports.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Adverse credibility ruling	IJ/BIA credibility findings were incorrect and should be overturned	Credibility findings are supported by record and should be upheld	Waived: Zou failed to challenge the four grounds BIA relied on, so court treats those grounds as unchallenged and does not reverse
Well-founded fear of future persecution based on U.S. Christian practice	Zou argued officials would learn of and target him for practicing Christianity in the U.S., establishing a reasonable fear	Government argued evidence shows limited/piecemeal targeting of Christians and no incidents in Fujian, so Zou failed to show government awareness or pattern of persecution	Denied: Substantial evidence supports BIA/IJ that Zou did not show officials would likely learn of or target him; no pattern or local incidents shown
Motion to remand for new country conditions reports	Zou argued the 2014 International Religious Freedom report and later material warranted remand	Government argued the reports would not change the outcome and did not contain relevant local incidents	Denied: BIA erred about report availability timing but reasonably concluded new reports would not alter the result; no abuse of discretion
Government's motion for summary denial of the petition	N/A (Zou filed merits brief)	Government moved for summary denial as frivolous	Denied as moot after court completed review; petition for review denied on merits

Xiu Xia Lin v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 162 (2d Cir.) (standard for substantial‑evidence review of credibility findings)
Ramsameachire v. Ashcroft, 357 F.3d 169 (2d Cir.) (requirements for well‑founded fear absent past persecution)
Hongsheng Leng v. Mukasey, 528 F.3d 135 (2d Cir.) (when fear based on U.S. activities, applicant must show authorities are or will become aware or there is a pattern or practice)
Shi Jie Ge v. Holder, 588 F.3d 90 (2d Cir.) (country‑wide evidence insufficient where local enforcement varies and no local incidents shown)
Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138 (2d Cir.) (remand and local enforcement considerations for country conditions evidence)