Sargis Hakobyan v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Sargis Hakobyan, a native of Syria and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying his motion to remand and dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence. Wakkary v. Holder, 558 F.3d 1049, 1056 (9th Cir.2009). We grant in part and deny in part the petition for review, and remand.

Hakobyan testified that an Armenian government investigator abducted and beat him because Hakobyan had submitted repeated complaints to police, prosecutors, and parliament regarding an official’s corruption. Substantial evidence does not support the BIA’s nexus determination because Hakobyan’s testimony established that he was targeted, at least in part, on account of his political opinion. See Fed unyak v. Gonzales, 477 F.3d 1126, 1129-30 (9th Cir.2007) (petitioner’s testimony that he was targeted for raising complaints about an extortion scheme established that the persecution was, at least in part, “a response to his political…