Tampubolon

Riori Tampubolon (“Tampubolon”) and his wife, Erlinda Silitonga (“Silitonga”) petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision affirming the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and cancellation of removal from Indonesia. We deny the petition with respect to the asylum and cancellation of removal claims, but we grant the petition with respect to the withholding of removal claim. We hold that the BIA erred in failing to apply disfavored group analysis to petitioners’ withholding claim because the record compels a finding that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group. We remand in accordance with INS v. Orlando Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16 , 123 S.Ct. 353 , 154 L.Ed.2d 272 (2002).

I. BACKGROUND

Petitioners, devout Protestant Christians, are natives and citizens of Indonesia. In 1989, when he was 31 years old, Tampubolon entered the United States on a tourist visa. Likewise, in 1992, when she was 22 years old, Silitonga entered the United States on a tourist visa. Tampubolon and Silitonga met in the United States and married in 1995. They have two U.S. citizen daughters, ages 12 and 14. The entire…