Liu

MEMORANDUM *

De Liu, a native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his motion to reopen the exclusion proceedings against him. Because proceedings were initiated against Liu prior to April 1, 1997 and the BIA did not issue its final deportation order until after October 30, 1996, we have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). See Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 10^-208, § 309(c)(1), 110 Stat. 3009 , 625 (1996). We grant the petition. As the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we will not recount it here except as is necessary to explain our decision.

We review for abuse of discretion the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen. See INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 104-05 , 108 S.Ct. 904 , 99 L.Ed.2d 90 (1988). Because the BIA based its decision in this case on an erroneous holding—specifically, that Liu’s newly submitted evidence, the Guangdong Province Birth Control Regulation, was immaterial-we conclude that the BIA abused its discretion in denying Liu’s motion to reopen. That the BIA’s view on materiality…