Davinder Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Davinder Singh, an Indian citizen, practicing Sikh, and supporter of the Sikh separatist movement, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ dismissal of his appeal from the Immigration Judge’s denial of his application for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We GRANT the petition and REMAND for further proceedings.

There is no question, as the BIA found, that Singh was tortured by Indian police. The only question now is whether he would be in jeopardy if forced to return. In concluding that he would not be, the BIA failed to give adequate reasons for according little weight to the affidavits of Singh’s wife and brother that state that the police continue to come looking for Singh. It is true that the affidavits are hearsay, and it is also true that the agency is within its right to accord little weight to hearsay that is contradicted by non-hearsay. Gu v. Gonzales, 454 F.3d 1014, 1021 (9th Cir.2006). The problem is that these affidavits are not contradicted by any non-hearsay or even other hearsay. To the contrary, the affidavits are consistent with facts that, in the prior…