FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION AUG 6 2020 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ZHICHENG ZHONG, No. 14-73319 Petitioner, Agency No. A099-900-074 v. MEMORANDUM* WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted August 5, 2020** San Francisco, California Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and HAWKINS and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges. Zhicheng Zhong, a native and citizen of China, petitions pro se for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of * 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). removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny the petition. “We review adverse credibility findings for substantial evidence, and must uphold them unless the evidence compels a contrary result.” Singh v. Holder, 643 F.3d 1178, 1180 (9th Cir. 2011). Under the REAL ID Act, any falsehoods, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, or omissions of detail in an applicant’s statements can support an adverse credibility finding, regardless of whether they go to the heart of the applicant’s claim. Tamang v. Holder, 598 F.3d 1083, 1093 (9th Cir. 2010); 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii) (authorizing agency to base an adverse credibility finding on the “totality of the circumstances” and “all relevant factors”). Here, substantial evidence supports the agency’s adverse credibility determination based on the following: (i) Zhong’s misrepresentation regarding his educational attainment, see Singh, 643 F.3d at 1181 (an applicant’s choice “to lie to immigration authorities . . . always counts as substantial evidence supporting an adverse credibility finding”); (ii) internal inconsistencies in his testimony for which he failed to provide “reasonable and plausible” explanations, Rizk v. Holder, 629 F.3d 1083, 1088 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation omitted); (iii) discrepancies between Zhong’s written statement in support of his asylum application and his testimony, notwithstanding the opportunity he had to review and amend the former, see 2 Malkandi v. Holder, 576 F.3d 906, 917 (9th Cir. 2009) (upholding credibility determination where applicant, inter alia, “passed up opportunities to correct [prior] misstatements”); and (iv) Zhong’s failure to mention in his asylum application “alleged police misconduct that would have supported his applications for relief,” Silva-Pereira v. Lynch, 827 F.3d 1176, 1186 (9th Cir. 2016) (quotation marks omitted).1 Absent credible testimony, Zhong’s asylum and withholding claims fail. See Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153, 1156 (9th Cir. 2003).2 The BIA’s adverse credibility determination “does not, by itself, necessarily defeat” a CAT claim. Garcia v. Holder, 749 F.3d 785, 791 (9th Cir. 2014). Rather, “all evidence relevant to the possibility of future torture shall be considered.” 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(3). However, if a petitioner’s testimony is 1 We need not address the remaining grounds ...
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