Afolabi

MEMORANDUM **

Veronica Morili Afolabi, a citizen and native of Nigeria, petitions for review from a final order of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which summarily affirmed the opinion of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) who found Afolabi’s testimony not credible. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition for review and remand.

“Where ... the BIA adopts the IJ’s credibility determination, we look through the BIA’s decision to examine the IJ’s reasons for deeming the person not credible.” Shire v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 1288, 1294 (9th Cir.2004) (quotations omitted). The credibility determination must be supported by substantial evidence, and although this standard is deferential, a decision not to believe an alien’s testimony “must be supported by specific, cogent reasons.” Id. at 1295 .

The IJ focused on Afolabi’s failure to include in her declaration any written description of the rape she testified that she endured one night during her third, six-week detention. But we have found that an asylum applicant’s failure to report a rape in her application, or even to mention it in her interview, did not support an IJ’s conclusion that she…