Kulwinder Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Kulwinder Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying his motion to reopen. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for abuse of discretion the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen. Bhasin v. Gonzales, 428 F.3d 977, 983 (9th Cir.2005). We grant the petition for review, and we remand.

In Singh’s prior proceedings, the BIA found that Singh was credible and suffered past persecution, but that the government rebutted the presumption of future persecution. Singh subsequently filed a motion to reopen alleging the police continued to inquire about him and had harmed his father and brother as a result. The BIA found Singh’s evidence, including the death certificate he submitted for his father, was insufficiently reliable, and also found he did not adequately show the evidence regarding his father’s death was previously unavailable.

The BIA erred in finding Singh did not adequately show the evidence regarding his father’s death was previously unavailable, because the death did not occur until after Singh’s last immigration hearing. See Bhasin, 423 F.3d at 987 (information in petitioner’s…