Younis

Younis v. Holder

Good Law
320 F. App'x 491
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMarch 24, 2009No. 05-75839California474 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Moundhir Yousif Younis, a native and citizen of Iraq, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, Lopez v. Ashcroft, 366 F.3d 799, 802 (9th Cir.2004), we grant the petition for review.

*492 The IJ found Younis, a Chaldean Christian, had established past persecution but, upon remand from the BIA, concluded that the government had met the heightened standard required to rebut Younis’s well-founded fear of future persecution. The BIA agreed with the IJ that ‘Younis failed to establish he will be persecuted and/or tortured upon return to Iraq in light of changed country conditions in his native country.”

The agency’s conclusion is not supported by substantial evidence. See Mousa v. Mukasey, 530 F.3d 1025, 1029-30 (9th Cir.2008). When the petitioner has established past persecution, our case law requires that the agency “provide an individualized analysis of how changed conditions will affect the specific petitioner’s situation,”…

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