Guangzan Jin v. Holder

MEMORANDUM **

Guanzan Jin, a native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) affirmance of an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) order denying Jin’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition.

1. The IJ’s adverse credibility determination, which the BIA expressly adopted, is not supported by substantial evidence. See Li v. Holder, 559 F.3d 1096, 1102 (9th Cir.2009) (substantial evidence standard); Mendez-Mendez v. Mukasey, 525 F.3d 828, 832 (9th Cir.2008) (judicial review limited to BIA decision except to the extent BIA expressly adopts IJ opinion).

The IJ viewed a letter from Jin’s pastor with “great suspicion” because the telephone number listed for the church was the same as the telephone number that Jin provided in his asylum application. Instead of asking Jin to explain why the telephone numbers matched, the IJ engaged in an indirect and largely irrelevant line of questioning focused on whether church business was conducted out of Jin’s home. Because the IJ did not afford Jin…