Rita Gloria Guzman-Borjas; Angel David Linares-Guzman v. ROBERT M. WILKINSON, Acting Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
RITA GLORIA GUZMAN-BORJAS;
ANGEL DAVID LINARES-GUZMAN,
Petitioners,
v.
ROBERT M. WILKINSON, Acting
Attorney General,
Respondent.
No. 19-72130
Agency Nos. A209-336-717
A209-336-718
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted February 3, 2021**
San Francisco, California
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and IKUTA and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.
Rita Gloria Guzman-Borjas and her son, Angel David Linares-Guzman,1
petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
* 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).
1 Angel David was a rider on Guzman-Borjas’s asylum application.
FILED
FEB 9 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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upholding the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of Guzman-Borjas’s applications for
asylum and withholding of removal.2 We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252,
and we deny the petition.
Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s adverse credibility finding.
Bassene v. Holder, 737 F.3d 530, 536 (9th Cir. 2013). In her credible fear
interview, Guzman-Borjas stated that Angel’s father, Miguel, beat her three times.
During her hearing, Guzman-Borjas testified that Miguel beat her at least twelve
times. “Although inconsistencies no longer need to go to the heart of the
petitioner’s claim, when an inconsistency is at the heart of the claim it doubtless is
of great weight,” Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1046–47 (9th Cir. 2010),
and Guzman-Borjas’s testimony about the number of beatings has such great
weight. It also presents a more compelling claim of persecution. See Iman v. Barr,
972 F.3d 1058, 1067–68 (9th Cir. 2020). And there were sufficient indicia of
reliability to permit the BIA to consider Guzman-Borjas’s credible fear interview
because it was conducted under oath with an interpreter and included
contemporaneous notes. See Mukulumbutu v. Barr, 977 F.3d 924, 926 (9th Cir.
2020).
Guzman-Borjas’s inconsistent descriptions of the nature of her relationship
2 Guzman-Borjas does not seek review of the denial of her claim for
protection under the Convention Against Torture.

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with Miguel also support the adverse credibility finding because these facts “form
the basis of the asylum claim,” Zamanov v. Holder, 649 F.3d 969, 973 (9th Cir.
2011), and “even a petitioner’s minor inconsistencies, when aggregated or when
viewed in light of the total circumstances, may undermine credibility.” Shrestha,
590 F.3d at 1043 n.4.
Though Guzman-Borjas’s failure to report being raped by Miguel on her
asylum application cannot support the adverse credibility finding because the IJ
never provided her with a reasonable opportunity to explain the omission, see
Perez-Arceo v. Lynch, 821 F.3d 1178, 1184 (9th Cir. 2016), we uphold the BIA’s
credibility determination because the other inconsistencies are of “great weight,”
see Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1047. We therefore do not reach Petitioners’ challenges
to the BIA’s decision on the merits of the asylum and withholding claims.
PETITION DENIED.

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