Yongping Hu v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Yongping Hu petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) denial of his motion to reconsider its denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). 8 C.F.R. § 208.18 . We grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA for reconsideration.

The BIA erred by requiring Hu to identify the “specific actions” the Chinese Government was likely to take against him, even though he provided credible evidence that police officers threatened “serious punishment” if he returned to China without disavowing his religion, which the Chinese Government calls “Shouter Christianity.” An asylum applicant who has not demonstrated past persecution must show that he has a “well-founded fear” of future persecution. Mansour v. Ashcroft, 390 F.3d 667, 673 (9th Cir.2004). To meet this burden, Hu had to adduce “credible, direct, and specific evidence that [he] faced an individualized risk of persecution ...” Lolong v. Gonzales, 484 F.3d 1173 (9th Cir.2007) (en banc).

Here, Hu’s failure to specify how the Chinese government would carry out its threat of “serious punishment” does not diminish the existence of…