Henarath

*977 MEMORANDUM **

Mohittige Sisira Neil Kamal Henarath, a Sinhalese citizen of Sri Lanka, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) upholding an Immigration Judge’s denial of his request for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and review under the substantial evidence standard the BIA’s ruling that Henarath has not proven eligibility for asylum and its decision that Henarath is not entitled to withholding of removal. Rios v. Ashcroft, 287 F.3d 895, 898-99 (9th Cir.2002). The BIA’s decision must be upheld if “supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We conclude that the record as a whole provides substantial evidence supporting the BIA’s decision and deny the petition.

Henarath testified that he was a merchant seaman and that Tamil crewmen taunted him on a shipping vessel regarding their victories over the Sinhalese and their plans to “take off’ the President. Henarath testified that, on one occasion, he lost his temper and struck a Tamil crewman named…

dissenting.

In my view, the record does not contain substantial evidence to support the BIA’s denial of Henarath’s request for asylum. Furthermore, even if the record could support a denial, it would be for reasons other than those offered by the BIA, and in that circumstance we may not affirm. The BIA’s reasons are baseless, and we are not free to conjure up others. I therefore respectfully dissent.

Henarath testified that he received threatening phone calls, including death threats, for over a year, until he was finally able to change his phone number and move out of his home. He also testified that after changing his number he received another call in which he was told he had been placed on the hit fist of a terrorist group, the Tamil Tigers. The BIA accepts all this as true and furthermore allows that the threats may have been connected to political views ascribed to Henarath. The BIA nonetheless concludes that Henarath’s fear, while genuine, was not objectively reasonable.

Death threats constitute an objectively reasonable basis for a fear of persecution if the threats would “cause a reasonable person to fear.” Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 934 (9th Cir.2000). It need not be…