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      {
        "title": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS",
        "paragraphs": []
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      {
        "title": "FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT",
        "paragraphs": [
          "para_4",
          "para_5",
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        "title": "TODD BLANCHE, Acting Attorney",
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      {
        "title": "No. 15-73093",
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      {
        "title": "A201-195-275",
        "paragraphs": []
      },
      {
        "title": "MEMORANDUM*",
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      {
        "title": "On Petition for Review of an Order of the",
        "paragraphs": []
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        "title": "Board of Immigration Appeals",
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        "paragraphs": []
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        "title": "San Francisco, California",
        "paragraphs": []
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      {
        "title": "Before: S.R. THOMAS, GOULD, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges",
        "paragraphs": []
      },
      {
        "title": "Natalia Golban, a native of the former Soviet Union and a citizen of the",
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          "para_24",
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      {
        "title": "FILED",
        "paragraphs": []
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      {
        "title": "SEP 17 2026",
        "paragraphs": []
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      {
        "title": "MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK",
        "paragraphs": []
      },
      {
        "title": "U.S. COURT OF APPEALS",
        "paragraphs": []
      },
      {
        "title": "2 15-73093",
        "paragraphs": [
          "para_31",
          "para_32",
          "para_33",
          "para_34",
          "para_35"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "(9th Cir. 2010); Zhou v. Gonzales, 437 F.3d 860, 864-65 (9th Cir. 2006). As the",
        "paragraphs": [
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          "para_38"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "1. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of asylum and",
        "paragraphs": [
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          "para_41",
          "para_42",
          "para_43",
          "para_44",
          "para_45",
          "para_46",
          "para_47",
          "para_48",
          "para_49"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii). The agency is required to give “specific and cogent",
        "paragraphs": [
          "para_51"
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1042. The REAL ID Act requires a “healthy measure of",
        "paragraphs": [
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          "para_54"
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      },
      {
        "title": "3 15-73093",
        "paragraphs": [
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          "para_57"
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        "title": "The agency provided “a specific cogent reason for the adverse credibility",
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          "para_60"
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        "title": "(noting that “IJs are in the best position to assess demeanor and other credibility",
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          "para_67"
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        "title": "1252(d)(1); Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, 598 U.S. 411, 416–23 (2023) (holding that",
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        "title": "8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1)’s exhaustion requirement is not jurisdictional but is a",
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        "text": "NOT FOR PUBLICATION",
        "paragraph_id": "para_1"
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        "text": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS",
        "paragraph_id": "para_2"
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      {
        "text": "FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT",
        "paragraph_id": "para_3"
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      {
        "text": "NATALIA GOLBAN,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_4"
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      {
        "text": "Petitioner,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_5"
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      {
        "text": "v.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_6"
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      {
        "text": "TODD BLANCHE, Acting Attorney",
        "paragraph_id": "para_7"
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      {
        "text": "General,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_8"
      },
      {
        "text": "Respondent.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_9"
      },
      {
        "text": "No. 15-73093",
        "paragraph_id": "para_10"
      },
      {
        "text": "Agency No.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_11"
      },
      {
        "text": "A201-195-275",
        "paragraph_id": "para_12"
      },
      {
        "text": "MEMORANDUM*",
        "paragraph_id": "para_13"
      },
      {
        "text": "On Petition for Review of an Order of the",
        "paragraph_id": "para_14"
      },
      {
        "text": "Board of Immigration Appeals",
        "paragraph_id": "para_15"
      },
      {
        "text": "Argued and Submitted September 3, 2026",
        "paragraph_id": "para_16"
      },
      {
        "text": "San Francisco, California",
        "paragraph_id": "para_17"
      },
      {
        "text": "Before: S.R. THOMAS, GOULD, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges",
        "paragraph_id": "para_18"
      },
      {
        "text": "Natalia Golban, a native of the former Soviet Union and a citizen of the",
        "paragraph_id": "para_19"
      },
      {
        "text": "Republic of Moldova petitions for review of a decision of the Board of",
        "paragraph_id": "para_20"
      },
      {
        "text": "Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing an appeal from an order of an",
        "paragraph_id": "para_21"
      },
      {
        "text": "Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying her application for asylum, withholding of",
        "paragraph_id": "para_22"
      },
      {
        "text": "removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). “Where,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_23"
      },
      {
        "text": "* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent",
        "paragraph_id": "para_24"
      },
      {
        "text": "except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_25"
      },
      {
        "text": "FILED",
        "paragraph_id": "para_26"
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      {
        "text": "SEP 17 2026",
        "paragraph_id": "para_27"
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      {
        "text": "MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK",
        "paragraph_id": "para_28"
      },
      {
        "text": "U.S. COURT OF APPEALS",
        "paragraph_id": "para_29"
      },
      {
        "text": "2 15-73093",
        "paragraph_id": "para_30"
      },
      {
        "text": "as here, the BIA agrees with the IJ decision and also adds its own reasoning, we",
        "paragraph_id": "para_31"
      },
      {
        "text": "review the decision of the BIA and those parts of the IJ’s decision upon which it",
        "paragraph_id": "para_32"
      },
      {
        "text": "relies.” Duran-Rodriguez v. Barr, 918 F.3d 1025, 1027–28 (9th Cir. 2019). We",
        "paragraph_id": "para_33"
      },
      {
        "text": "review factual findings underlying the denial of relief, including adverse credibility",
        "paragraph_id": "para_34"
      },
      {
        "text": "determinations, for substantial evidence. Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039",
        "paragraph_id": "para_35"
      },
      {
        "text": "(9th Cir. 2010); Zhou v. Gonzales, 437 F.3d 860, 864-65 (9th Cir. 2006). As the",
        "paragraph_id": "para_36"
      },
      {
        "text": "parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here. We deny the",
        "paragraph_id": "para_37"
      },
      {
        "text": "petition for review.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_38"
      },
      {
        "text": "1. Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of asylum and",
        "paragraph_id": "para_39"
      },
      {
        "text": "withholding of removal on adverse credibility grounds. In assessing an applicant’s",
        "paragraph_id": "para_40"
      },
      {
        "text": "credibility, a trier of fact, considering the totality of the circumstances,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_41"
      },
      {
        "text": "may base a credibility determination on the demeanor, candor, or",
        "paragraph_id": "para_42"
      },
      {
        "text": "responsiveness of the applicant or witness, the inherent plausibility of",
        "paragraph_id": "para_43"
      },
      {
        "text": "the applicant’s or witness’s account, the consistency between the",
        "paragraph_id": "para_44"
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      {
        "text": "applicant’s or witness’s written and oral statements . . . the internal",
        "paragraph_id": "para_45"
      },
      {
        "text": "consistency of each such statement, the consistency of such statements",
        "paragraph_id": "para_46"
      },
      {
        "text": "with other evidence of record . . . and any inaccuracies or falsehoods",
        "paragraph_id": "para_47"
      },
      {
        "text": "in such statements, without regard to whether an inconsistency,",
        "paragraph_id": "para_48"
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      {
        "text": "inaccuracy, or falsehood goes to the heart of the applicant’s claim.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_49"
      },
      {
        "text": "8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii). The agency is required to give “specific and cogent",
        "paragraph_id": "para_50"
      },
      {
        "text": "reasons supporting an adverse credibility determination” to assist appellate review.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_51"
      },
      {
        "text": "Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1042. The REAL ID Act requires a “healthy measure of",
        "paragraph_id": "para_52"
      },
      {
        "text": "deference to agency credibility determinations.” Id. at 1041. Here, the agency",
        "paragraph_id": "para_53"
      },
      {
        "text": "based the adverse credibility finding on Golban’s demeanor, the inherent",
        "paragraph_id": "para_54"
      },
      {
        "text": "3 15-73093",
        "paragraph_id": "para_55"
      },
      {
        "text": "implausibility of Golban’s account, and the inconsistencies between Golban’s",
        "paragraph_id": "para_56"
      },
      {
        "text": "testimony and other record evidence, specifically a letter from her mother.",
        "paragraph_id": "para_57"
      },
      {
        "text": "The agency provided “a specific cogent reason for the adverse credibility",
        "paragraph_id": "para_58"
      },
      {
        "text": "finding,” Gui v. INS, 280 F.3d 1217, 1225 (9th Cir. 2002) (citation modified), and",
        "paragraph_id": "para_59"
      },
      {
        "text": "the record does not compel a finding of credibility. See Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1041",
        "paragraph_id": "para_60"
      },
      {
        "text": "(noting that “IJs are in the best position to assess demeanor and other credibility",
        "paragraph_id": "para_61"
      },
      {
        "text": "cues that we cannot readily access on review”); Li v. Garland, 13 F.4th 954, 961",
        "paragraph_id": "para_62"
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      {
        "text": "(9th Cir. 2021) (holding that two inconsistencies were supported by substantial",
        "paragraph_id": "para_63"
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        "text": "evidence and sufficient to support the adverse credibility determination).",
        "paragraph_id": "para_64"
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        "text": "2. Golban failed to exhaust her argument that the IJ violated her right to due",
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        "text": "process by failing to raise it in her appeal to the BIA. Golban’s failure to exhaust",
        "paragraph_id": "para_66"
      },
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        "text": "these issues before the agency bars our review of these claims. See 8 U.S.C. §",
        "paragraph_id": "para_67"
      },
      {
        "text": "1252(d)(1); Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, 598 U.S. 411, 416–23 (2023) (holding that",
        "paragraph_id": "para_68"
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      {
        "text": "8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1)’s exhaustion requirement is not jurisdictional but is a",
        "paragraph_id": "para_69"
      },
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        "text": "mandatory claim-processing rule if raised by the government).",
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        "text": "PETITION DENIED.1",
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        "text": "1 Golban’s motion to stay removal pending appeal (Dkt. No. 1) is denied.",
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