Mario Vega-Isla v. Eric Holder, Jr.
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Mario Gustavo Vega-Isla, a native and citizen of Peru, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence factual findings. Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2006). We grant the petition for review and remand.
Substantial evidence does not support the BIA’s determination that the persecution Vega-Isla suffered was based solely on criminal extortion of merchandise. Vega-Isla’s asylum application statement and credible testimony established his actual or imputed political opinion was “at least one central reason” for the confrontations, death threats, robbery, assault, pursuit, and continuing interest from Shining Path guerrillas. See Hu v. Holder, 652 F.3d 1011, 1017, 1019 (9th Cir.2011) (“[ejven though there might have been multiple motivations for the [mistreatment of petitioner] his credible testimony compels a finding that one of the central reasons for his alleged persecution was because of a protected ground”).