Qiao Fang Ke v. Attorney General United States


NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 17-1693 ________________ QIAO FANG KE, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ________________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A205-432-039) Immigration Judge: Honorable Charles M. Honeyman ________________ Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) September 28, 2017 Before: AMBRO, KRAUSE, Circuit Judges and CONTI, Chief District Judge (Opinion filed: October 25, 2017) ________________ OPINION* ________________  Honorable Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti, District Court Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation. * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. CONTI, District Judge Qiao Fang Ke (“Ke”) petitions for review of the December 23, 2016 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). In its decision, the BIA affirmed the denial by the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) of Ke's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), and ordered that Ke be removed to China. We will deny her petition. I. Ke, a native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China, entered the United States without inspection through Mexico on January 10, 2012. She applied for asylum and withholding of removal on May 14, 2012, based on her Christian religion. After an initial interview, an asylum officer determined that Ke had not shown eligibility for asylum and referred the matter to an immigration judge. On July 3, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security issued a Notice to Appear (“NTA”), charging her with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. Ke conceded removability, but renewed her requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT, alleging that she experienced past persecution in China and feared persecution upon her return to China because of her participation in an underground Christian church. On February 9, 2016, Ke testified at a hearing before the IJ. (Administrative Record (“A.R.”) at 99-207.) Ke was born and raised in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China. She married in 2008 and has one son, who was born in the United States on June 26, 2012. Her 2 husband remains in Fuzhou. Ke admitted to two prior attempts to enter the United States using snakehead smugglers in 2001 and 2005. Ke testified that she became a Christian in February 2011 after suffering two miscarriages and depression. She participated in religious gatherings at the homes of other parishioners. On September 18, 2011, law enforcement raided a church gathering. Ke was handcuffed, taken to the police station, interrogated, and held for three days. During the interrogation, she was slapped four times with an open hand, which made her face puffy and left a handprint. She was released after her husband paid a fine of 3,000 RMB, which the government represents equals roughly $440 United States dollars. The officers told her not to participate in any ...

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