Lopez-Marin

MEMORANDUM *

Krishna, Yeni and Silvia Lopez-Marin (“the sisters”) appeal the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) determination on their asylum, withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) claims. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a) and reverse and remand for reconsideration consistent with this disposition.

Asylum and withholding of removal claims

The sisters argue that they are entitled to asylum relief because they have faced persecution on account of an imputed political opinion. We previously remanded to the BIA to reconsider its initial conclusion that the sisters failed to present an imputed political opinion claim to the immigration judge (“LJ”). See Krishna Carolyn Lopez-Marin et al. v. Gonzales, Nov. 14, 2005 Order, No. 05-72528. The BIA’s decision to reaffirm its dismissal of the sisters’ asylum claim is ambiguous, but we read its conclusion that “no such claim was ever actually presented below” to be a determination that the sisters never raised or argued their imputed political opinion claim and therefore waived it.

Because the sisters’ pre-hearing statement to the IJ directly raised their imputed political opinion claim, the record “…