Joseph Kamel v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Joseph Riad Kamel, a native and citizen of Egypt, was convicted of crimes that rendered him removable, and the Department of Homeland Security instituted removal proceedings against him. Kamel sought deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. The Immigration Judge (IJ) granted Kamel’s appli cation for deferral of removal, and the government appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which sustained the appeal and entered an order of removal against Kamel. Kamel now petitions for reversal of the BIA’s decision. We grant the petition and remand.

We review factual questions for substantial evidence and questions of law de novo. Benyamin v. Holder, 579 F.3d 970, 974 (9th Cir.2009). Whether the BIA has correctly applied a legal standard is a question of law subject to de novo review. See, e.g., Morales v. Gonzales, 478 F.3d 972, 983 (9th Cir.2007). In this case, the BIA did not correctly apply a binding regulation that prohibits it from “engaging] in de novo review of findings of fact determined by an immigration judge,” and provides that the IJ’s factual findings “shall be reviewed only to determine whether the findings of the immigration judge are…