PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 19-1475 _____________ ADEL SULTAN MOHAMMED GHANEM, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ______________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A055-775-985) Immigration Judge: Leo A. Finston ______________ Argued: March 16, 2021 ______________ Before: KRAUSE, PHIPPS, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges. (Opinion Filed: September 22, 2021) Ian H. Gershengorn William R. Weaver [ARGUED] Jenner & Block 1099 New York Avenue, N.W. Suite 900 Washington, DC 20001 Samuel C. Kaplan 1401 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 Counsel for Petitioner William P. Barr Alison M. Igoe [ARGUED] Erik R. Quick United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent _____________ OPINION ______________ KRAUSE, Circuit Judge. Adel Ghanem, a former lawful permanent resident of the United States, seeks to avoid removal to Yemen, from which he fled to avoid persecution on account of political opinion. He pursues three forms of relief that were denied by the Immigration Judge (IJ) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA): asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a), withholding of removal under the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3), and withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, 8 U.S.C. § 1252, 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c). Ghanem was kidnapped and tortured before being convicted and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for political opposition to the Houthi regime. We will therefore grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA. 2 I. Factual and Procedural Background1 Whether Ghanem succeeds on appeal depends on whether the IJ’s findings, adopted by the BIA, are supported by substantial evidence. We therefore begin by surveying the record before the agency in detail. A. Ghanem’s Return to Yemen and Involvement in the Arab Spring Born in Ba’adan, in Yemen’s Ibb Province in 1986, Ghanem was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2003. In 2009, however, Ghanem returned to Yemen to get married, and in 2010, he settled with his wife in the city of Sana’a, where he opened a convenience store. Within months, a series of pro-democracy uprisings— later known as the Arab Spring—swept across the region. These movements eventually reached Yemen, where activists and members of the general public alike called for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in favor of a new government that would institute political, social, and economic reforms. Ghanem was among these reformers, joining in a demonstration known as “Dignity Friday” and other peaceful protests calling for “freedom of speech, press, assembly, association and religion and movement.” AR1035. In part, the reforms succeeded: Saleh was eventually forced to step down, and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was elected president in a free and fair election. But with that success came civil discord and political reprisals from Saleh supporters. Armed groups continued to foment instability and violence, including a growing Houthi movement composed of members …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals