Josue Tse Sio v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Josué Luis Tse Sio, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for review of a final order of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which sustained the Government’s appeal of the Immigration Judge’s {“13”) decision granting Sio’s application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We grant Sio’s petition and remand to the BIA.

We review questions of law, including whether the BIA has applied the correct standard of review, de novo. Rodriguez v. Holder, 683 F.3d 1164, 1169 (9th Cir.2012). The BIA reviews the IJ’s determinations of law de novo. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1 (d)(3)(ii); see Perez-Palafox v. Holder, 744 F.3d 1138, 1145 (9th Cir.2014).- Conversely, the BIA is prohibited from “engaging] in de novo review of findings of fact determined by an immigration judge;” rather, it reviews such findings for clear error. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1 (d)(3)(i); see Vitug v. Holder, 723 F.3d 1056, 1063 (9th Cir.2013). Whether an alien has suffered harm “on account of’ his protected status is a question of fact to be reviewed by the BIA for clear error. See, e.g., Regalado-Escobar v. Holder, 717 F.3d 724, 726-27 (9th Cir.2013) (‘We review…