Balwinder Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Balwinder Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) dismissal of his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We grant the petition and remand for further proceedings pursuant to INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 , 123 S.Ct. 353 , 154 L.Ed.2d 272 (2002) (per curiam).

The BIA assumed, arguendo, that Singh testified credibly and established that he had been persecuted on account of one of the grounds for which an alien may be granted asylum. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 (a)(42)(A), 1158(b)(1). We therefore do the same.

The BIA nonetheless determined that Singh was ineligible for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief because, in the BIA’s view, the Government demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Singh could safely and reasonably re locate in India in any of several Sikh communities outside of the Punjab. The BIA’s conclusion was premised upon the fact that Singh “was never himself politically active and was not a militant,” and “the country…