Th e C ler k o f t he Cou rt is dir ect ed to ame nd the * off ici al cap tio n t o c onf ormtoth e l ist ingofpa rti es abo ve. 09-3472-ag; 09-3694-ag Jin v. Holder; Song v. Holder

1 UNI TEDSTATE S COURT OF APPEALS 2 3 FOR THE SECOND CIRCUI T 4 5 Aug ustTe rm, 20 09 6 7 (Ar gue d i n T and em: Jul y 1 3, 201 0 D eci ded : S ept emb er 16, 20 10) 8 9 Doc ketNo s. 09- 347 2-a g, 09- 369 4-a g 10 11 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x 13 JINJI N L ONG , 14 15 Pet iti one r, 16 17 18 - v .- No. 09 -34 72- ag 19 20 ERI C H . H OLD ER JR. , UNIT ED STATES AT TORNEY 21 GEN ERAL, 22 23 Res pon den t. * 24 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x 26 27 RI QUAN S ONG , 28 29 Pet iti one r, 30 31 - v .- No. 09 -36 94- ag 32 33 ERI C H . H OLD ER JR. , UNIT ED STATES AT TORNEY 34 GEN ERAL, 35Th e C ler k o f t he Cou rt is dir ect ed to ame nd the ** off ici al cap tio n t o c onf ormtoth e l ist ingofpa rti es abo ve. 2 1 Res pon den t. ** 2 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x 4 Bef ore : JAC OBS , C hie f Judg e, WES LEYan d C HIN , 5 6 Cir cui t Judg es. 7 8 Tan dempe tit ion s f or rev iewofre mov al ord ers , f ile d b y 9 Chi nes e c iti zen s who cla im the y s uff ere d p ers ecu tio n i n 10 Chi na on acc oun t o f a ssi sta nceth ey gav e r efu gee s f romNo rth 11 Kor ea. R i Q uanSo ng’ s p eti tio n i s DEN IED . JinJi n L ong ’s 12 pet iti on is GRA NTED ; t he ord er of rem ova l i s VACATED , a nd 13 his ca se REM ANDEDtoth e B oar d o f I mmi gra tio n Appe als fo r 14 fur the r p roc eed ing s c ons ist entwi th thi s o pin ion . 15 JIEHAN, NewYo rk, NY , f or 16 Pet iti one r J in JinLo ng. 17 18 JOHN Z . Z HAN G, NewYo rk, NY , f or 19 Pet iti one r R i Q uanSo ng. 20 21 SUS AN BENNET T G REE N, Tri al 22 Att orn ey, Ci vil Di vis ion(T ony 23 Wes t, Ass ist antAt tor ney 24 Gen era l, Civ il Div isi on, Ca rl H. 25 McI nty re, As sis tan t D ire cto r, 26 Sus an Hou ser , S eni or Lit iga tio n 27 Cou nse l, Off iceofImmig rat ion 28 Lit iga tio n, Civ il Div isi on) , 29 Uni tedSt ate s D epa rtmentof 30 Jus tic e, Was hin gto n, DC, fo r 31 Res pon den t E ricH. Ho lde r J r. in 32 Jinv. Ho lde r, 09- 347 2-a g.3 1 SUS AN BENNET T G REE N, Tri al 2 Att orn ey, Ci vil Di vis ion(T ony 3 Wes t, Ass ist antAt tor ney 4 Gen era l, Civ il Div isi on, Li nda 5 S. Wer ner y, Ass ist antDi rec tor ), 6 Uni tedSt ate s D epa rtmentof 7 Jus tic e, Was hin gto n, DC, fo r 8 Res pon den t E ricH. Ho lde r J r. in Son g v . H old er, 09 -36 94- ag. 9 10 11 DENNIS JACOB S, Chi ef Judge: 12 The se pet iti ons , h ear d i n t and em, ar e f ile d b y C hin ese 13 cit ize ns whote sti fie d t hatth ey suf fer ed per sec uti on for 14 vio lat inga Chi nes e l aw tha t p roh ibi ts thepr ovi sio n o f 15 ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore an ref uge es. W e mustde cid e whet her 16 suc h p ers ecu tio n c an be cla ssi fie d a s o n a cco untof 17 pol iti cal op ini on. S ee 8 U .S. C. §§ 110 1(a )(4 2)( A), 18 115 8(b )(1 )(A ) ( asy lum ); 8 U .S. C. § 1 231 (b) (3) (A) 19 (wi thh old ingofre mov al) . Theor der s o f r emo val we re iss ued 20 Jul y 2 1, 200 9 a nd Aug ust11 , 2 009 byth e B oar d o f 21 Imm igr ati on App eal s ( “BI A”) . Bec aus e t he BIAfa ile d t o 22 con sid er a n umb er of rel eva nt fac ts, Ji n J in Lon g’s pe tit ion 23 is gra nte d; theor derofre mov al is vac ate d, andhi s c ase 24 remand ed to theBo ardfo r f urt herpr oce edi ngs co nsi ste nt 25 wit h t his op ini on. O n r ema nd, th e B IA (wh ileco nsi der ing 26 thefa cts as di rec ted ) s hou ld det erm inewh eth er the re is aTh e N int h C irc uitco ncl ude d i n X un Li v. Hol derth at 1 theev ide ncepr ese nte d t o t he Imm igr ati on Judge the re requir ed a f ind ingth at the re is no Chi nes e l aw bar rin g ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore ans . 559 F. 3d 109 6, 111 0-1 1 ( 9th Cir . 2 009 ). 4 1 lawba rri ng ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore ans , an d ( whe the r t her e 1 2 is or is not ) i n whatci rcumst anc es per sec uti on of tho se who 3 ass istNo rthKo rea n r efu gee s w oul d c ons tit utepe rse cut ionon 4 acc oun t o f apr ote cte d g rou nd. R i Q uanSo ng’ s p eti tio n i s 5 den ied . 6 7 I 8 Acc ord ingtoth e p eti tio ner s’ (in exp ert ) t est imo ny, 9 Chi nes e l aw pro hib its gi vin g a ssi sta ncetoNo rthKo rea n 10 ref uge es. B othpe tit ion ers pr ovi dedsu ch ass ist anc e, 11 suf fer ed at theha nds ofth e C hin esego ver nme nt, an d c ont end 12 tha t t heysu ffe redpe rse cut iononac cou nt of pol iti cal 13 opi nio n. 14 15 A 16 JinJi n L ongis a Chi nes e n ati ona l who res ide d u nti l 17 200 6 i n J ili n P rov inc e, nea r t he Nor th Kor eanbo rde r. On 18 Feb rua ry 7, 200 5, he ans wer ed a k noc k o n h is doo r a nd 19 enc oun ter ed a f ami ly of Nor th Kor eanre fug ees se eki ng aid5 1 fora sic k memb er. T hou gh he bel iev ed it was il leg al to do 2 so, Ji n p rov ide d f ood , c lot hin g, andsh elt er fora wee k, 3 aft er whi ch he pur cha sedtr ainti cke ts forth e f ami ly’ s 4 tra vel on war d. 5 On Dec emb er 17, 20 05, Ji n w as det ain ed by thepo lic e 6 andqu est ion ed abo ut theNo rthKo rea n r efu gee s h e h ad 7 hel ped . He was he ld forel eve n d ays , duri ng whi ch time h e 8 was be ate n r epe ate dlyonhi s a rms an d b ackwi th ele ctr ic 9 bat ons . Thepo lic e a ccu sedhi m o f p art ici pat ingina hum an10 smu ggl ingri ng- -a cha rgehede nie d a nd cla ims wa s 11 fab ric ate d. Hewa s n eve r f ormall y c har gedorbr oug ht bef ore 12 a j udg e. Hewa s r ele ase d o nlywh en his wi fe pai d t he 13 off ice rs 400 0 yuan . 14 Jinle ft Chi na wit h h is wif e i n F ebr uar y 2 006 , f ear ing 15 fur the r h ara ssmentbyth e C hin esepo lic e. Heen ter ed the 16 Uni tedSt ate s w ith outin spe cti on some m ont hs lat er. 17 Jinwa s f oun d c red ibl e. Bu t t he BIAde nie d h is 18 app lic ati ons fo r a syl um andwi thh old i gofre mov al on the 19 gro undth at he hadfa ile d t o e sta bli sh there qui redne xus 20 bet wee n h is ass ert ed pol iti cal op ini on andth e a lle ged 21 per sec uti on, an d t hathewa s t her efo re ine lig ibl e f or asy lumJi n a lsoso ugh t r eli ef und er theCo nve nti on Aga ins t 2 Tor tur e ( “CAT”) , U nit ed Nat ion s C onv ent ionAg ain st Tor tur e andOt herCr uel , I nhumanorDe gra din g T rea tme nt or Pun ishmen t, Dec . 1 0, 198 4, S. Tre atyDo c. No. 10 0-2 0, 146 5 U.N .T. S. 85 (imple men tedby8 C.F .R. §§12 08. 16- 18) . Tha t cla im was de nie d b eca useth e B oar d c onc lud ed tha t h e h ad fai ledtosh ow a s uff ici entli kel iho od of tor tur e w ereheto ret urntoCh ina . Jindo es notch all eng e t he BIA ’s den ial of his CA T c lai m h ere , a nd the ref orefo rfe its ob jec tio n t o i t. See , e .g. , Y ueq ingZh angv. Go nza les , 4 26 F.3 d 5 40, 54 1 n .1 (2dCi r. 200 5). 6 1 andwi thh old ingofre mov al. T his pe tit ionfo r r evi ew 2 2 timelyfo llo wed . 3 4 B 5 Ri Qua n S ongis a Chi nes e n ati ona l who res ide d u nti l 6 200 4 i n J ili n P rov inc e, nea r t he Nor th Kor eanbo rde r. Hi s 7 unc le mar rie d aNo rthKo rea n r efu geein19 97. 8 Son g’s un clewa s a rre ste d i n 2 003 an d ques tio nedab out 9 his wi fe. S ong ’s unc le was de tai nedfo r t hre e w eek s, dur ing 10 whi ch time h e w as rep eat edl y b eat en. H e w as rel eas ed whe n 11 thepo lic e w erepa id 300 0 yuan . 12 The rea fte r, Son g a rra nge d w itha ref uge e o rga niz ati on 13 to sen d h is unc le’ s f ami ly (wi fe, da ugh ter , a nd ste p14 dau ght er) toSo uthKo rea . Son g a cco mpa nie d t hempa rt of the 15 way , t o B eij ing . The re, So ng was in formedbyhi s w ifeth at 16 thepo lic e w ereas kin g a fte r h im andha d a rre ste d t he manSo ng als o a ppl iedfo r a syl um andCAT r eli ef, bo th of 3 whi ch wer e d eni ed. N eit hercl aimsu rvi ves he re. Son g’s as ylum a ppl ica tio n w as den iedas un timely , a nd we lac k j uri sdi cti on to con sid er Son g’s ch all eng e t o t hat den ial . Jur isd ict ionli es to rev iewa BIAco ncl usi on tha t an asy lumap pli cat ionis un timelyun der8 U.S .C. § 1 158 (a) (2) (B) orth at unt ime lin ess is no t e xcu sedun der8 U.S .C. § 115 8(a )(2 )(D ) o nlyin sof ar as thepe tit ionre que sts rev iewof“c ons tit uti ona l c lai ms or que sti ons ofla w.” 8 U.S .C. § 125 2(a )(2 )(D ); 8 U.S .C. § 115 8(a )(3 ). So ng’ s pet iti on doe s n eit her . It arg ues on ly tha t “ his de laywa s cau sedbyth e a cti on of andch eat ingofhi s p rev iou s a gen t who. . . as sur ed [So ng] th at the. . . as ylum [ app lic ati on] was . . . [t ime ly] fi led .” Th is arg ume nt cha lle nge s o nly theBI A’s co ntr aryfa ctu al fin din g. Son g’s CAT c lai m w as dee medfo rfe ite d b y t he BIA , a nd Son g d oes no t c ont estth at gro undofde nia l h ere . So ng arg ues th at theBI A e rre d b y a ffi rmi ng the 4 Imm igr ati on Judge’ s e xcl usi on of cer tai n e vid enc e, aff ida vit s f romSo ng’ s w ifean d a unt . Tho se aff ida vit s a re dup lic ati ve of Son g’s te sti mon y, andla rge ly irr ele van t t o thegr oun ds on whi ch theBI A d eni ed Son g’s ap pli cat ionfo r 7 1 whoha d d riv en himan d h is rel ati ves toBe iji ng. S ongle ft 2 Chi na in Mar ch 200 4, wit hou t r etu rni ng home. Heen ter ed the 3 Uni tedSt ate s w ith outin spe cti on some w eek s l ate r. 4 TheBI A d eni ed Son g’s ap pli cat ionfo r w ith hol din g o f 5 rem ova l, on twogr oun ds: hi s f ail uretoes tab lis h t hathi s 6 act ion s c ons tit ute d t he exp res sio n o f apo lit ica l o pin ion , 7 andhi s f ail uretoes tab lis h asu ffi cie nt nex us bet wee n a 8 pro tec tedgr oun d a nd theal leg ed per sec uti on. T his 3 9 pet iti on forre vie w t ime ly fol low ed. 4wit hho ldi ng of rem ova l. Th eirex clu sio n ( whe the r p rop er or

not ) w as the ref oreha rml ess . See , e .g. , G arc ia- Vil led a v . Muk ase y, 531 F. 3d 141 , 1 49 (2dCi r. 200 8) (ap ply ingha rml ess err or ana lys is) ; C oro vicv. Mu kas ey, 51 9 F .3d90 , 9 6 ( 2d Cir . 2 008 ) ( same). 8 1 C 2 The se pet iti ons we re arg uedinta nde m b eca useth ey 3 imp lic ateth e s ameis sue : I n whatci rcumst anc es- -ifan y-- may 4 theen for cementofa lawofge ner al app lic abi lit y ( her e, the 5 app are nt pro hib iti on of ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore an ref uge es) 6 con sti tut e p ers ecu tio n o n a cco untofpo lit ica l o pin ion ? 7 8 II 9 “Wh ere , a s h ere , t he BIAdo es notad optth e d eci sio n o f 10 the[I mmi gra tio n Judg e ( IJ) ] t o a ny ext ent , w e r evi ew the 11 dec isi on of theBI A.” G arc ia- Pad ronv. Ho lde r, 558 F. 3d 12 196 , 1 99 (2dCi r. 200 9). “ Leg al iss ues , a nd theap pli cat ion 13 of lawtofa ct, ar e r evi ewe d d e n ovo .” Ca str o v . H old er, 14 597 F. 3d 93, 99 (2 d C ir. 20 10) . Andwere vie w f act ual 15 fin din gs forsu bst ant ial ev ide nce , d efe rri ng “un les s a ny 16 rea son abl e a dju dic ato r w oul d b e c omp ell ed to con clu de to the 17 con tra ry, ” 8 U. S.C . §12 52( b)( 4)( B). E .g. , S hab aj v. 18 Hol der , 6 02 F.3 d 1 03, 10 5 ( 2d Cir . 2 010 ). 199 1 III 2 Eli gib ili ty forbo th asy luman d w ith hol din g o f r emo val 3 requir es tha t a n a ppl ica nt dem ons tra te a n exu s b etw eenth e 4 per sec uti on he all ege s ( or fea rs) an d a n a sse rte d p rot ect ed 5 gro und --h ere , “ pol iti cal op ini on. ” 8 U .S. C. 6 §§ 110 1(a )(4 2)( A), 11 58( b)( 1)( A) (as ylum); 8 U.S .C. 7 § 1 231 (b) (3) (A) (w ith hol din g o f r emo val ); seeal so, e. g., 8 Yue qin g Z han g v . G onz ale s, 426 F. 3d 540 , 5 44 (2dCi r. 200 5). 9 Theap pli can t mustde mon str ateth at his pe rse cut ors ac tedor 10 wil l a ct in suf fic ien t p artbe cau se of his po lit ica l o pin ion 11 (ei the r r eal orimput ed) , a nd notfr om some o the r i mpe tus . 12 INS v. El ias -Za car ias , 5 02 U.S . 4 78, 48 2-8 3 ( 199 2); Os ori o 13 v. INS , 1 8 F .3d10 17, 10 28- 29 (2dCi r. 199 4). 14 As a r ule , t he enf orc eme nt of gen era llyap pli cab le law 15 can notbesa id to be on acc oun t o f t he off end er’ s p oli tic al 16 opi nio n, eve n i f t he off end er obj ect s t o t he law . See , 17 e.g ., Zha ng, 42 6 F .3dat54 5 ( not ingth at bec aus e a n 18 “ap pli can t must. . . sh ow . . . tha t t he per sec uto r’s 19 mot ivetope rse cut e a ris es fro m t he app lic ant ’s pol iti cal 20 bel ief [,] . . . [i ]t fol low s . . . t hatwh ereth e 21 app lic ant ’s pol iti cal be lie f t ake s t he form o f o ppo sit ionto 22 a g ove rnmentpo lic y o r p rac tic e t hatis vi sit ed on theSu ch sin gli ng out , m ore ove r, maybeonac cou nt of a 5 per son ’s opp osi tio n t o apa rti cul ar laworpo lic y; the opp osi tio n n eedno t e xte nd to enc omp ass th e e nti re reg ime . 10 1 pop ula tio n a t l arg e, mer e s ubj ect iontoth at pol icyor 2 pra cti ce wil l n ot its elfqu ali fy as per sec uti on ‘onac cou nt 3 of’ po lit ica l o pin ion ”). A t t he same t ime , p ros ecu tio n t hat 4 is pre tex t f or pol iti cal pe rse cut ionis no t o n a cco untof 5 lawen for cement . XunLi v. Ho lde r, 559 F. 3d 109 6, 110 8-1 0 6 (9t h C ir. 20 09) . Thu s, someon e who has be en sin gle d o ut for 7 enf orc eme nt or har sh pun ishmen t b eca useofhi s p oli tic al 8 opi nio n c an sho w e lig ibi lit y. S ee Vum i v . G onz ale s, 502 5 9 F.3 d 1 50, 15 7-5 9 ( 2d Cir . 2 007 ) ( ask ingwh eth er 10 int err oga tio n a nd pun ishmen t w ere“d isp rop ort ion atetoth e 11 cri me, wh ichwo uldin dic atepe rse cut ionongr oun ds of 12 pol iti cal op ini on rat herth an pro sec uti on or leg iti mat e l aw13 enf orc eme nt int err oga tio n” (in ter nal qu ota tio n mark s 14 omi tte d)) ; Z han g, 426 F. 3d at 547 (d ete rmi nin g t hatif 15 app lic antco uldsh ow tha t f ine s a nd bus ine ss lic ens e 16 rev oca tio ns wer e “ an att emp t t o r epr ess hi s c hal len ge to the 17 gov ernmen t’s le git ima cy, ” t henheco uldsh ow eli gib ili ty) ; 18 Isl ami v. Go nza les , 4 12 F.3 d 3 91, 39 6 ( 2d Cir . 2 005 ) ( not ing 19 tha t whil e “ compul sor y m ili tar y s erv ice ” t ypi cal ly “do es not 20 pro vid e a syl um see ker s w ithad equ ateca usefo r c lai min g11 1 per sec uti on, ” e lig ibi lit y c an be sho wn “ifanin div idu al’ s 2 ref usa l t o s erv e i n t he mil ita ry lea ds to dis pro por tio nat ely 3 exc ess ivepe nal tie s, inf lic tedonhi m o r h er bec aus e o f t hat 4 ind ivi dua l’s . . . po lit ica l o pin ion ”), ov err ule d i n p arton 5 oth er gro und s, Linv. U. S. Dep ’t of Jus tic e, 494 F. 3d 296 , 6 305 (2 d C ir. 20 07) (i n b anc ). Fa cts mu st be car efu lly 7 sif tedinco nte xt to asc ert ainwh eth er the re is a s uff ici ent 8 pol iti cal el eme nt to theal leg ed per sec uti on. E .g. , O sor io, 9 18 F.3 d a t 1 029 (r uli ng tha t t he BIAer redbyco ncl udi ng 10 tha t a n a ppl ica nt’ s l abo r d isp utewi th his go ver nme nt was 11 eco nom ic andno n-p oli tic al wit hou t “ examin [in g] []e ith er the 12 pol iti cal di men sio n o f t h[e ] d isp ute[] or its po lit ica l 13 con tex t”) ; I slami, 41 2 F .3dat39 6 ( not ingth at whi le 14 “co mpu lso ry mil ita ry ser vic e” typ ica lly“d oes no t p rov ide 15 asy lumse eke rs wit h a dequat e c aus e f or cla imi ng 16 per sec uti on, ” “ an ind ivi dua l may be eli gib le foras ylum i f 17 he or sheis fl eei ng to avo id pun ishmen t f or ref usi ng to 18 joi n a‘m ili tar y f orc e c ond emn ed by thein ter nat ion al 19 commun ity ’”) . 20 21 A 22 In Jin ’s cas e, theBI A f ail ed to con sid er a n umb er of12 1 fac ts tha t may sup por t a n i nfe ren ce tha t h is arr estan d 2 det ent ionwe re pre tex tua l. Se e, e.g ., Cas tro , 5 97 F.3 d a t 3 99 (no tin g t hatsu bst ant ial ev ide nce“r equ ire s ace rta in 4 min imum l eve l o f a nal ysi s f romth e I J a nd BIA , a s w ell as 5 some i ndi cat ionth at theIJco nsi der ed mat eri al evi den ce 6 sup por tin g ape tit ion er’ s c lai m” (in ter nal qu ota tio n mark s 7 omi tte d). J in tes tif iedth at his co ndu ct was human ita ria n 8 or cha rit abl e, anddi d n ot cas t h is mot ive s a s p oli tic al. 9 Buta humani tar ianorch ari tab le actma y s ign ifya 10 humani tar ianorch ari tab le con vic tio n; anda gov ernmen t 11 mig ht con str ue vio lat ionofa lawas op pos iti on or 12 res ist anc e t o t he law ’s und erl yin g p oli cy, an d p uni sh it 13 acc ord ing ly. I t i s u nkn ownwh at thela wfu l p ena ltyma y b e 14 foras sis tin g N ort h K ore an ref uge es. B ut thefo llo win g 15 fac ts maysu ppo rt an inf ere nceth at wha t J in suf fer ed was 16 noten tir elyth e e nfo rce men t o f ape nal st atu te. 17 Jinte sti fie d ( cre dib ly) th at there fug ee- smu ggl ing 18 all ega tio ns und erl yin g h is arr estwe re fab ric ati ons . He was 19 nev er formal ly cha rge d o r b rou ghtbe for e aju dge . SeeLi , 20 559 F. 3d at 110 9 ( “[T ]hedi sti nct ionbe twe en per sec uti on and 21 pro sec uti on is les s t hancl earcu t whenth e ‘ pro sec uti on’ 22 lac ks leg iti mac y o r p roc eed s w ith outth e p roc ess no rma lly13 1 due .”) . Yet , t hou gh nei the r c har gedno r p res ent ed in cou rt, 2 he was su bje cte d t o p rol ong ed det ent ionan d r epe ate d 3 phy sic al abu se. S ee, e. g., Vumi, 50 2 F .3dat15 8 ( hol din g 4 tha t “ int err oga tio n a nd pun ishmen t” tha t i s 5 “di spr opo rti ona te to thecr ime. . . wo uldin dic ate 6 per sec uti on on gro und s o f p oli tic al opi nio n r ath er tha n 7 pro sec uti on or leg iti mat e l aw- enf orc eme nt int err oga tio n” 8 (in ter nal qu ota tio n mark s o mit ted )). More ove r, U.S . S tat e 9 Dep art men t c oun tryre por ts on Chi na sug ges t t hatth e N ort h 10 Kor eanre fug ee iss ue is pol iti cal ly cha rge d. Se e, e.g ., 11 Oso rio , 1 8 F .3dat10 29 (re qui rin g c ons ide rat ionofa 12 dis put e’s co nte xt) . TheCh ine se gov ernmen t h as app are ntl y 13 arr est ed numero us act ivi sts , m iss ion ari es, an d o the rs- -bo th 14 for eig n a nd Chi nes e-- foras sis tin g N ort h K ore an ref uge es. 15 Seege ner all y K angv. At t’yGe n. of theUn ite d S tat es, 61 1 16 F.3 d 1 57, 16 0-6 2 ( 3d Cir . 2 010 ). Th is canbese en as 17 enf orc eme nt of thela w ( ass umi ng the re is a l aw pro hib iti ng 18 ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore an ref uge es) , b ut it mayal so 19 sug ges t a n a cti ve res ist anc e t o C hin a’s No rthKo rea n 20 imm igr ati on pol ici es, an d a n a tte mptatsu ppr ess ion . Jin ’s 21 act ion s may hav e b eenvi ewe d b y t he Chi nes e a uth ori tie s a s 22 par t o f t his re sis tan ce, an d t he BIAsh oul d t her efo re hav eAnimput ed pol iti cal op ini on cla im notra ise d 6 adm ini str ati vel y i s u nex hau ste d, andwi ll notbeco nsi der ed her e. Se e, e.g ., Linv. U. S. Dep ’t of Jus tic e, 453 F. 3d 99, 105 n. 3 ( 2d Cir . 2 006 ). 14 1 con sid ere d t he fac ts in tha t l igh t. 2 Acc ord ing ly, Ji n’s pe tit ionfo r r evi ew is gra nte d; the 3 ord er of rem ova l i s v aca ted , a nd his ca se is remand ed to the 4 BIAfo r c ons ide rat ionofth esefa cts inth e f irs t i nst anc e. 5 See , e .g. , C ast ro, 59 7 F .3dat10 0; Zha ng, 42 6 F .3dat54 8- 6 49. I f t he BIAde termin es on remandth at the re was nope nal 7 lawba rri ng ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore an ref uge es, itsh all 8 als o c ons ide r whet herth e a bse nceofsu ch a l aw str eng the ns 9 thepe tit ion er’ s c ont ent ionth at he was pe rse cut ed for 10 pol iti cal re aso ns rat herth an pun ish ed forle git ima te law 11 enf orc eme nt pur pos es. 12 13 B 14 Son g h as notar gue d t hatth e C hin eseau tho rit ies 15 imp ute d a ny pol iti cal op ini on to him . S ong ’s pet iti on 6 16 the ref orefa ils onth e e sse nti al gro undth at the re is lit tle 17 (ifan y) evi den ce tha t h e a cte d f roma pol iti cal mo tiv e. He 18 tes tif iedth at he didno t b eli eveth at ass ist ingNo rth 19 Kor eanre fug ees wa s i lle gal un til af terhi s a ssi sta ncewa s15 1 comple ted . (Heth en fle d C hin a b efo re eve r e nco unt eri ng the 2 aut hor iti es inv est iga tin g h is con duc t.) H e e vid ent ly act ed 3 on thein dep end ent ly suf fic ien t m oti ve of fam ilylo yal ty and 4 con cer n f or his un cle , a unt , a nd cou sin s. Th at mot iva tio n 5 doe s n ot qua lif y h im forpo lit ica l a syl um. S ee Eli as6 Zac ari as, 50 2 U .S. at48 2. Th e r eco rd wou ld notsu ppo rt an 7 inf ere nceorra isea sus pic ionth at he act ed pol iti cal ly to 8 opp oseth e l aw tha t h e w as vio lat ing . 9 10 IV 11 Forth e f ore goi ng rea son s, Jin ’s pet iti on is gra nte d; 12 theor derofre mov al is vac ate d, andhi s c aseis re man dedto 13 theBI A f or fur the r p roc eed ing s c ons ist entwi th thi s 14 opi nio n. Onre man d, theBI A ( whi le con sid eri ng thefa cts as 15 dir ect ed) sh oul d d ete rmi ne whe the r t her e i s ala w b arr ing 16 ass ist anc e t o N ort h K ore ans , a nd (wh eth er the re is or is 17 not ) i n whatci rcumst anc es per sec uti on of tho se whoas sis t 18 Nor th Kor eanre fug ees wo uldco nst itu te per sec uti on on 19 acc oun t o f apr ote cte d g rou nd. S ong ’s pet iti on is den ied .