Dan Kowalski reports from LexisNexis Immigration Community:
CA9 on REAL ID, Credibility: Dai v. Sessions
Dai v. Sessions, Mar. 8, 2018 – “Ming Dai is a citizen of China. He testified that he was beaten, arrested, jailed, and denied food, water, sleep, and medical care because he tried to stop the police from forcing his wife to have an abortion. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) nevertheless found that Dai was not eligible for asylum or withholding of removal.
There is one clear and simple issue in this case: neither the Immigration Judge (IJ) nor the BIA made a finding that Dai’s testimony was not credible. Under our well-established precedent, we are required to treat a petitioner’s testimony as credible in the absence of such a finding. We adopted this rule before the REAL ID Act and reaffirmed it after its passage. The dissent clearly disapproves of our rule. We are, however, bound to follow it. We might add, though it does not affect our holding in this case, that we approve of it. We
think it not too much to ask of IJs and the BIA that they make an explicit adverse credibility finding before deporting someone on that basis. In any event, under our well-established rule, Dai is unquestionably entitled to relief”[Hats off to David Z. Su!]
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Go on over at LexisNexis Immigration Community at the above link for a link to the complete decision!
PWS
03-09-18