Khoshfahm

Opinion by Judge B. FLETCHER; Concurrence by Judge N.R. Smith.

OPINION

Petitioner Salar Khoshfahm (“Khoshfahm”) seeks review of a March 8, 2010 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) finding of removability and denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s conclusion that Khoshfahm, who lived for approximately six continuous years with his parents in Iran, abandoned his lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) status. The BIA also affirmed the IJ’s determination that Khoshfahm failed to meet his burden of proof as to eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. Khoshfahm timely appealed. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition.

I.

Khoshfahm was born in 1988, in Tabriz, Iran. In 2001, when he was thirteen, he came with his parents to the United States. He and his parents obtained LPR status through a petition filed on their behalf by Khoshfahm’s United States citizen uncle, who lives in Sacramento, California. Khoshfahm and his parents lived in the United States with this uncle for seven months. Khoshfahm’s father worked for about three of those…

concurring:

I write separately, because it is not necessary to speculate about potential exceptions to an imputation rule as the majority has done in section III.B of its opinion. There are no applicable exceptions to the rule in this case.

“[BJoth the BIA and this court repeatedly have held that a parent’s status, intent, or state of mind is imputed to the parent’s unemancipated minor child in many areas of immigration law, including asylum, grounds of inadmissibility, and legal residency status.” Cuevas-Gaspar v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 1013, 1024 (9th Cir.2005). This court has not specifically addressed imputing a parent’s abandonment of LPR status to their unemancipated child. However, imputing parents’ abandonment of LPR status to their children is consistent with our authority. 1 As this court set forth in Saucedo-Arevalo v. Holder:

636 F.3d 532, 533 (9th Cir.2011). Given our court’s precedent that (1) a parent’s residency in the United States and (2) a parent’s state of mind concerning a fraudulent application is imputed to a minor, it would be illogical to hold (under most circumstances) that the abandonment of LPR status would not be imputed.

The BIA has addressed this…

Nadia Farah, Law Office of Nadia Farah, Tracy, CA, for the petitioner.

Aimee J. Frederickson (argued), United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for the respondent.

Before: BETTY B. FLETCHER and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges, and RUDI M. BREWSTER, District Judge. [*]

Opinion by Judge B. FLETCHER; Concurrence by Judge N.R. Smith.

B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Salar Khoshfahm ("Khoshfahm") seeks review of a March 8, 2010 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the Immigration Judge's ("IJ") finding of removability and denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA affirmed the IJ's conclusion that Khoshfahm, who lived for approximately six continuous years with his parents in Iran, abandoned his lawful permanent resident ("LPR") status. The BIA also affirmed the IJ's determination that Khoshfahm failed to meet his burden of proof as to eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. Khoshfahm timely appealed. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition.

Khoshfahm was born in 1988, in Tabriz, Iran. In 2001, when he was thirteen, he came with his…