Sharifisaber

MEMORANDUM **

Farah Sharifisaber, a native and citizen of Iran, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a)(1). We grant the petition.

Sharifisaber was served with a notice to appear in November 2003, charging that she was illegally present in the United States, having overstayed her B-2 visitor visa without authorization. Sharifisaber conceded that she was subject to removal, but requested asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Before the Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Sharifisaber testified to the history of her family’s mistreatment by the Iranian government and four separate occasions on which she was detained and mentally and physically harmed by Iranian officials. Sharifisaber argues that her mistreatment by Iranian officials demonstrates that she was persecuted in Iran, and that she has a well-founded fear of future persecution, on account of her political opinion and membership in a particular social group.

The IJ found that Sharifisaber had failed to demonstrate past persecution and that, even if she had established past…