Liu

MEMORANDUM **

Xuefeng Liu, a 39-year-old native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions for review of a final order of the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which affirmed, without opinion, the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ’s”) decision to deny his application for asylum. We thus review the IJ’s decision as the final agency determination, 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1 (a)(7), and grant the petition.

The IJ denied Liu’s application for asylum based on an adverse credibility finding. We review this finding under the substantial evidence standard, and it must be upheld “unless the evidence presented compels a reasonable factfinder to reach a contrary result.” De Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391 , 393 (9th Cir.1997)(internal citations omitted). Liu’s asylum claim was based upon his practice of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement which was declared a cult and banned by the Chinese government in 1999. While Liu was in the United States on business, his wife, with whom he co-founded a Falun Gong training center, was arrested and imprisoned for two years in 1999 for her practice of Falun Gong.

Although Liu testified consistently about his involvement with Falun Gong, as well as that…