Opinion
17-71955
06-16-2022
KHACHATUR CHOBANYAN, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Submitted June 9, 2022 Portland, Oregon
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A202-097-570
Before: SCHROEDER and SUNG, Circuit Judges, and ANTOON, District Judge.
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
MEMORANDUM
Khachatur Chobanyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeal's (BIA) dismissal of his appeal from an immigration judge's (IJ) order denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a), and we deny the petition for review.
"We review . . . factual findings, including adverse credibility determinations, for substantial evidence." Mairena v. Barr, 917 F.3d 1119, 1123 (9th Cir. 2019). Under this standard, "administrative findings of fact are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary." Id. (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B)).
The BIA upheld the IJ's adverse credibility determination, and that finding is supported by substantial evidence in the record. The agency identified several inconsistencies and vague responses in Chobanyan's hearing testimony, most of which are supported by the record and are "at the heart of" Chobanyan's claim. Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1047 (9th Cir. 2010). "Although inconsistencies no longer need to go to the heart of the petitioner's claim" to form the basis of an adverse credibility determination, "when an inconsistency is at the heart of the claim it doubtless is of great weight." Id. at 1046-47. "[L]ook[ing] to the 'totality of the circumstances[] and all relevant factors, '" Alam v. Garland, 11 F.4th 1133, 1137 (9th Cir. 2021) (en banc) (last alteration in original) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii)), the record here does not compel a contrary credibility determination. Substantial evidence also supports the agency's finding that Chobanyan did not establish eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT protection through other evidence.
PETITION DENIED.
The Honorable John Antoon II, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting by designation.