By: Derek Hawkins//August 25, 2015//
Civil
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, HAMILTON, Circuit Judge, and DARRAH, District Judge
Immigration – Asylum Application
No. 14-2937 Arnaud Tawuo v. Loretta E. Lynch
Appellant inconsistent depiction of facts in affidavits led to denial of application for asylum.
“The IJ also cited changes Tawuo made to his story about his visa application process when he was confronted with contrary evidence. In his initial affidavit, Tawuo said he was “lucky” to receive a United States visa on his first attempt to apply. But he did not get a visa on his first try. Actually, the government rejected Tawuo’s first visa application. When the government confronted Tawuo about this, he claimed that only his second visa attempt “counted” because only then did a “guidance counselor” explain the application process to him. This explanation did not impress the IJ, who called it a worrisome misrepresentation given Tawuo’s unambiguous earlier statement about his good luck “at my first application.” We cannot fault this concern. When caught in what appeared to be a lie, Tawuo provided an unconvincing explanation. The IJ was well within his rights to regard this as evidence of a lack of credibility.”
Petition for Review Denied