Opinion ID: 797143
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The future threat of sterilization

Text: 89 Finally, we turn to the two grounds stated by the IJ for rejecting Lin's contention that he faced sterilization if removed to China: (1) that Lin's divorce removed the threat of any such procedure, and (2) that, in connection with Lin's claim for CAT relief, sterilization is not tantamount to torture. As to the first, we note that the transcript of the January 31, 2001 hearing indicates that the IJ became aware of Lin's divorce proceedings only minutes before his oral decision was rendered, and that, upon receiving this information from Lin's attorney, the IJ made no further inquiry into the matter. We think it evident that an inquiry would need to be conducted in order to assess reliably, at the least, (a) whether the divorce proceedings had, in fact, been concluded, and (b) whether China's family planning officials sought to sterilize Lin in order (I) to prevent further childbearing specifically from this —now, perhaps terminated— marriage, (ii) to preclude any future procreation by an individual who already had two sons, or, finally, (iii) to punish Lin for his prior violations of the one-child policy. On the current record, the IJ's assessment of the impact of Lin's divorce on his sterilization claim cannot be said to be supported by substantial evidence. 28 90 Regarding the IJ's determination that a threat of torture could not be made out by a proved claim of forced sterilization, our capacity to review this legal conclusion is compromised by the IJ's silence as to the analytical basis for it. See Shi Liang Lin v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 416 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir.2005). In any event, we need not decide the question of whether involuntary sterilization pursuant to China's population control policy meets the definition of torture adopted by the CAT. Because the IJ's legal conclusion that threatened sterilization does not warrant CAT relief was unsupported by any reasoning whatsoever, see, e.g., Yu Sheng Zhang, 362 F.3d at 158-59 (discussing the need for sufficient reasoning in a summarily affirmed IJ opinion so as to permit judicial review), we must vacate the IJ's determination on this issue and remand it to the BIA. It is for that agency to decide, in the first instance, whether and how the merits of the question should be considered. 29 91