Hong Guang Jin v. Mukasey

MEMORANDUM **

Hong Guang Jin, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming, without opinion, an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) based on an adverse credibility determination. Jin asserts past persecution on account of his opposition to China’s coercive population control program — in the form of beatings for disobeying orders to take his wife to have an abortion, demotions at work and his wife’s forced abortion — and a well-founded fear that, if returned to China, officials will forcibly sterilize him for unlawfully having a second child. 1 We have jurisdiction to review Jin’s petition pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition.

The IJ’s adverse credibility determination is not supported by substantial evidence. See Rivera v. Mukasey, 508 F.3d 1271, 1274 (9th Cir.2007) (“We review adverse credibility findings under the substantial evidence standard.”). An adverse credibility determination must be based on “specific, cogent reasons” found in the record. Singh v.…