Kiniti-Wairimu

MEMORANDUM *

Isaac Kigondu Kiniti-Wairimu (“Kiniti”), a native and citizen of Kenya, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) affirmance of the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . When, as here, the BIA conducted a de novo review of the record, our review “is limited to the BIA’s decision, except to the extent the BIA expressly adopted the IJ’s opinion.” Mendez-Mendez v. Mukasey, 525 F.3d 828, 832 (9th Cir.2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). We “review[ ] purely legal questions, such as due process claims, de novo.” Iturribarria v. INS, 321 F.3d 889, 894 (9th Cir.2003). We grant the petition for review and remand for a new hearing before another IJ.

Kiniti’s due process rights were violated when the IJ conducted independent research of Kiniti’s family circumstances via the Internet and then relied on the resultant reports that the incarcerated prisoner was not aware of to make an adverse credibility determination. While conducting Internet research in deciding *909 an application for relief may…