Carrion Garcia v. Holder

An adverse credibility finding will not necessarily preclude a Convention Against Torture claim, unless there is a convincing reason to support such a determination after sufficient consideration has been given to all of the evidence provided by the petitioner.

Rita Maria Carrion Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic, filed for asylum pursuant to the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), alleging “extreme” physical abuse. In 2011, Carrion Garcia attempted to enter the United States illegally four times, each time providing false identification information when apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). She was detained in Tucson, Arizona, for three days, and after appearing before the district court, she lied to both the judge and her attorney that she was a native of Mexico. However, Mexico refused her entrance, so Carrion Garcia stated she was a native of El Salvador and was moved to another detention center in Eloy, Arizona. Carrion Garcia appeared before the immigration judge (“IJ”) and provided supplementary evidence to her CAT claims, which included an expert report regarding domestic violence in the Dominican Republic. The IJ found Carrion Garcia was not credible and denied relief based on the numerous lies regarding her identity, as well as the ambiguous answers she provided pertaining to the interview with CPB officers. The IJ found that supplementary documents did not show substantiating evidence of abuse, and thus were not believable because of previous false testimony. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed and dismissed the appeal. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court reviewed for “substantial evidence” using the totality of circumstances under the REAL ID Act. The panel found that “objective evidence” must show that a petitioner is in fear of persecution. Under CAT, the petitioner has the opportunity to establish a claim of torture by presenting supplementary evidence, which will be taken into consideration when determining adverse credibility. The panel concluded that Carrion Garcia’s additional evidence was discredited. Accordingly, the government sufficiently assessed necessary evidence in finding adverse credibility. DENIED.