Jin v. Atty Gen USA ( 2008 )

Opinions of the United
2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
2-21-2008
Jin v. Atty Gen USA
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 06-2845
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"Jin v. Atty Gen USA" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 1561.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT
OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 06-2845
CHEN HAI JIN
Petitioner
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
Respondent
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals
No. A98-113-004
Immigration Judge: Hon. Eugene Pugliese
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
February 12, 2008
BEFORE: SLOVITER, SMITH and
STAPLETON, Circuit Judges
(Opinion Filed: February 21, 2008)
OPINION OF THE COURT
STAPLETON, Circuit Judge:
Petitioner Chen Hai Jin is a native and citizen of the Peoples Republic of China.
He seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) order affirming a decision
of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying him asylum, withholding of removal and relief
under the Convention Against Torture, and directing his removal. He claims to have been
persecuted in the past, and to fear persecution in the future, because of his Catholic faith.
We will deny his petition for review.
The BIA held that the record supported the IJ’s conclusion that Jin had failed to
carry his burden of establishing past persecution, a well-founded fear of future
persecution, or the likelihood of torture in China based on his religion. It noted that Jin
had not offered corroboration for events critical to his claim, such as the destruction of his
church by the government of China in 1999 and the government’s attempt to destroy it
again in 2004, and that Jin had admitted before the IJ that his family remained in China
and continued to worship at the same church.
If a petitioner “seeks to obtain judicial reversal of the BIA’s determination, he
must show that the evidence he presented was so compelling that no reasonable factfinder
could fail to find [past persecution] or the requisite fear of [future] persecution.” INS v.
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Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 (1992). Given this highly deferential standard of
review, we are unable to overturn the BIA’s determination in Jin’s case.
Jin’s claim of past persecution is based on his contentions that he was prevented
from practicing his religion and that he was threatened with arrest for fighting with
government officials when they came to demolish his church in 2004. With respect to the
former claim, while he testified to damage and destruction of his church by government
officials, he does not claim that he and his congregation were ever actually prevented
from practicing their religion. Indeed, his own evidence showed that the congregation
continued its religious practices after the 1999 incident as before, that the congregation
was allowed to rebuild the church after it was destroyed in 2004 adjacent to the
demolished structure, and that his family has continued to worship there without
harassment ever since.
Jin’s other claim of past persecution is based on his testimony that he was
threatened with arrest due to his fight with officials in 2004. There is no evidence,
however, indicating that an arrest in his situation would threaten his life, health or
otherwise rise to the level of persecution. There is no indication that the other young
people who were fighting alongside Jin and were arrested suffered any significant harm.
See Kibinda v. Attorney General, 477 F.3d 113, 119-20 (3d Cir. 2007) (five day
detention, with non-severe injury, did not constitute past presecution).
There are similar deficiencies in the support for Jin’s claim of fear of future
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persecution. The record will not support a conclusion that there is presently a pattern and
practice of persecuting Catholics in general in China. And the single, past threat of arrest
does not compel a finding of an objective fear of future persecution any more than it
compels a conclusion of past persecution.
Based on the foregoing, we decline to review the denial of withholding of removal,
as well as the denial of asylum. See Ghaly v. INS, 58 F.3d 1425 (9th Cir. 1995).
There is no evidence whatever in the record concerning past torture or the potential
for future torture.
The petition for review will be denied.
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