Surinder Singh v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Surinder Singh petitions for review of the BIA’s denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We grant the petition and remand to the BIA.

1. The BIA did not engage in impermissible factfinding, in violation of 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1 (d)(3)(iv), in concluding that the government met its burden of rebutting the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution notwithstanding the IJ’s failure to reach the issue. In making its determination, the BIA applied the pertinent legal standard to the facts as found by the IJ. Consequently, the BIA decided a mixed question of law and fact, as permitted by 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1 (d)(3)(ii).

2. In denying Singh’s asylum and withholding of removal claims, the BIA and IJ failed to conduct an “individualized determination” of whether and how any changed conditions in India affect Singh’s particular situation, based on the nature of the past persecution he experienced at the hands of Punjabi police. See Ali v. Holder, 637 F.3d 1025, 1030 (9th Cir.2011) (“The hallmark of an ‘individualized determination’ is a tailored analysis of the petitioner’s specific harms and…