Yanci Corvera-Arias v. William Barr ( 2020 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
AUG 6 2020
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
YANCI CARMINA CORVERA-ARIAS; No. 17-73469
KEIRY STEFANIE MENDOZA-
CORVERA, AKA Katey Stefanie Agency Nos. A206-797-271
Mendoza-Corvera; YANCI MICHELLE A206-797-272
MENDOZA-CORVERA, A206-797-273
Petitioners,
MEMORANDUM*
v.
WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted August 4, 2020**
Before: GRABER, TALLMAN, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.
Petitioners Yanci Carmina Corvera-Arias and her minor children seek
review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing their appeal from an
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
immigration judge’s denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection
under the Convention Against Torture. We deny the petition.
The IJ found Corvera-Arias’s testimony not credible and the BIA adopted
and affirmed this decision. We review an adverse credibility finding for substantial
evidence. Lianhua Jiang v. Holder, 754 F.3d 733, 738 (9th Cir. 2014). Corvera-
Arias’s account of her flight from her abusive partner contained a significant
inconsistency. She testified that she lived with her abusive partner until just several
days before fleeing El Salvador, but her application for asylum stated that she had
lived with her sister for the five months preceding her flight from the country.
When reminded of what had been stated in the application for asylum, Corvera-
Arias confirmed she had lived with her sister for five months. The IJ requested an
explanation for the inconsistency and found Corvera-Arias’s answer of memory
loss unsatisfactory, given that she had provided detailed accounts of events that
had happened years before. The IJ was not required to accept Corvera-Arias’s
explanation. Cortez-Pineda v. Holder, 610 F.3d 1118, 1124 (9th Cir. 2010).
Substantial evidence supported the IJ’s adverse credibility determination and thus
the denial of asylum and withholding of removal.
We also review a denial of CAT relief for substantial evidence. Shrestha v.
Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1048 (9th Cir. 2010). “[W]hen the petitioner’s testimony is
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found not credible, to reverse the BIA’s decision denying CAT protection, we
would have to find that the [country conditions] reports alone compelled the
conclusion that the petitioner is more likely than not to be tortured.” Id. at 1048–49
(internal quotation marks omitted). The reports here do not compel such a
conclusion. Among other things, they note that the government of El Salvador has
criminalized domestic violence and thus does not acquiesce in such conduct. See
Arteaga v. Mukasey, 511 F.3d 940, 948 (9th Cir. 2007) (“A petitioner seeking CAT
relief must show that it is more likely than not that he will be tortured upon
removal, and that the torture will be inflicted at the instigation of, or with the
consent or acquiescence of, the government.”). Substantial evidence supported the
denial of CAT protection.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
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