Monteiro

MEMORANDUM **

Francisco Xavier Monteiro, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the denial by an immigration judge (IJ) of his requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We grant the petition in part, and remand.

The IJ determined that Monteiro testified credibly and established past persecution in India on account of Monteiro’s religion, Roman Catholicism. The BIA adopted and affirmed that decision. However, the IJ and the BIA, citing improved conditions in India regarding treatment of Indian Christians, determined that Monteiro could relocate elsewhere in India to avoid mistreatment.

Monteiro contends that the government failed to rebut the presumption of his well-founded fear of persecution and the presumption that his life or freedom would be threatened upon his return to India. We agree.

If an applicant proves his eligibility for asylum by establishing past persecution, a rebuttable presumption is created that the applicant also has a well-founded fear of future persecution, 8 C.F.R. §…