15-2342-ag Wei Sun v. Jefferson B. Sessions III UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term 2017 (Submitted: November 9, 2017 Decided: February 23, 2018) Docket No. 15-2342-ag WEI SUN, Petitioner, - against - JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, United States Attorney General, Respondent.* ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before: LEVAL, LIVINGSTON, and CHIN, Circuit Judges. Petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming the decision of an Immigration Judge denying an application * Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III is substituted for former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch as respondent. for asylum after finding petitioner credible but nonetheless concluding that he did not meet his burden of proof because he failed to provide corroborating evidence. PETITION DENIED. David J. Rodkin, Law Offices of David J. Rodkin, Esq., New York, New York for Petitioner. Anthony Ogden Pottinger, Trial Attorney, Margaret Kuehne Taylor, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. CHIN, Circuit Judge: Petitioner Wei Sun ("Sun") seeks review of a June 26, 2015 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the decision of an Immigration Judge ("IJ") denying him asylum for religious persecution in China. Sun entered the United States on a visitor visa in 2007 and subsequently filed a timely application for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 and 1231(b)(3), respectively, and for relief under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"), see 8 C.F.R. § 208.16. The IJ and the BIA denied Sun's petition on the ground that he ‐2‐ failed to meet his burden of proof because of an absence of corroborating evidence. The BIA interpreted the corroboration provision of the REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 231, 303 (2005), as not requiring an IJ to give a petitioner specific notice of the evidence needed to meet his burden of proof, or to grant a continuance before ruling to give a petitioner an opportunity to gather corroborating evidence. On appeal, Sun argues that an IJ must give a petitioner notice and an opportunity to submit additional evidence when the IJ concludes that corroborating evidence is required, relying on the Ninth Circuit's decision in Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079 (9th Cir. 2011). We conclude that the REAL ID Act is ambiguous on this point, and that the BIA's interpretation of the statute is reasonable and entitled to deference under Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. BACKGROUND Sun, a native and citizen of China, is married and his wife still lives in China. Sun testified that after his wife was forced to abort her child in China in 1995, he joined an underground Christian church. While attending the church on ...
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