Leiva-Perez

MEMORANDUM

William Alexander Leiva-Perez petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). We grant the petition and remand to the BIA.

1. The BIA abused its discretion by failing to provide a reasoned explanation for its decision. See Movsisian v. Ashcroft, 395 F.3d 1095, 1098 (9th Cir.2005). The BIA held that Leiva-Perez “failed to establish that past attempts to extort money from him were on account of political opinion, or that any other harm [Leiva-Perez] has suffered or will suffer was or will be on account of [statutory grounds].” Leiva-Perez, who was found credible, had the burden of proving “(1) that he held, or his persecutors believed that he held, a political opinion; and (2) that he was harmed because of that political opinion.” Baghdasaryan v. Holder, 592 F.3d 1018, 1023 (9th Cir.2010) (citation omitted). Because he filed his application for asylum after May 11, 2005, LeivaPerez must meet the REAL ID Act’s requirement that his political opinion was “one central reason”…