Opinion
No. 13-70285
01-29-2015
YONG WANG, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Agency No. A087-721-686 MEMORANDUM On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Before: CANBY, GOULD, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Yong Wang, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' ("BIA") order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge's ("IJ") decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for substantial evidence the agency's factual findings, applying the standards governing adverse credibility determinations created by the REAL ID Act. Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1039-40 (9th Cir. 2010). We grant the petition for review and remand.
Substantial evidence does not support the agency's adverse credibility finding based on Wang's lack of familiarity with Christmas. See Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079, 1088-89 (9th Cir. 2011); see also Tekle v. Mukasey, 533 F.3d 1044, 1052-55 (9th Cir. 2008) (IJ mischaracterized the evidence). Further, substantial evidence does not support the agency's adverse credibility determination based on the perceived inconsistencies regarding Sister Huo, and why Wang could not operate his business, see Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1044 ("under the REAL ID Act, IJs must provide specific and cogent reasons in support of an adverse credibility determination") (internal quotations omitted), nor does it support the agency's finding based on the inconsistency regarding the purpose of Wang's trip to Indonesia, see Ren, 648 F.3d at 1086 ("to support an adverse credibility determination, an inconsistency must not be trivial and must have some bearing on the petitioner's veracity") (citation omitted).
Thus, we grant the petition for review as to Wang's asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT claims, and we remand this case to the BIA, on an open record, for further proceedings consistent with this disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18 (2002) (per curiam); see also Soto-Olarte v. Holder, 555 F.3d 1089, 1095 (9th Cir. 2009).
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED.