Nasser Mustapha Karouni v. Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General

Nasser Mustapha Karouni (“Karouni”), a native and citizen of Lebanon, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) that denied his application for both asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA affirmed without opinion a decision of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) that found that Karouni failed to show that he was persecuted in the past, or that he had a well-founded fear of future persecution.

Because the evidence compels the conclusion that Karouni has a well-founded fear of future persecution if he were removed to Lebanon, we grant Karouni’s petition for review.

I. BACKGROUND

Karouni is a native and citizen of Lebanon, who first entered the United States in 1987 on a multiple-entry, non-immigrant visitor for pleasure visa. In March 1998, Karouni timely filed an application for asylum with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”). See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.4 (a)(2) (requiring all applications for asylum to be filed within one year after arrival in the United States or one year after the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act’s (“IIRIRA”), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996), April 1, 1997, effective…