Liu

MEMORANDUM

Jinru Liu, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We grant the petition and remand to the BIA to exercise its discretion, on behalf of the Attorney General, whether to grant asylum.

The government concedes that the BIA erred in adopting the IJ’s determination that Liu’s asylum claim is time-barred. The IJ’s alternative adverse credibility finding is not supported by substantial evidence.

The IJ based his adverse credibility determination on three findings, none of which is supported by substantial evidence: (1) Liu gave inconsistent testimony regarding the circumstances of her forced sterilization; (2) Liu told the asylum officer that she had a forced abortion, but later admitted this was a mistake; and (3) Liu presented unreliable sterilization certificates. We address each of these findings, and their evidentiary support, in turn.

First, the record does not support the IJ’s finding that Liu testified inconsistently about her forced sterilization. Liu testified consistently that she initially agreed…