Opinion ID: 151508
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedural Matters: Agency Decision and Harmless Error

Text: We begin by deciding which decisionthe IJ's, the BIA's, or bothwe must review. We have stated that where the BIA does not expressly adopt the IJ's findings but rather issues its own opinion, we review the BIA's decision alone. Xiao v. Mukasey, 547 F.3d 712, 717 (7th Cir. 2008). On the other hand, where the BIA's decision merely supplements the opinion of the IJ, `the IJ's opinion, as supplemented by the BIA's opinion, becomes the basis for review.' Moab v. Gonzales, 500 F.3d 656, 659 (7th Cir.2007) (quoting Liu v. Ashcroft, 380 F.3d 307, 311 (7th Cir.2004)). As Borovsky points out, the BIA's opinion contains no express words of adoption, but we do not think that such explicit language is always necessary to incorporate the IJ's decision as part of the agency decision under review. Cf. id. at 659 & n. 1 (noting that the BIA had not expressly or implicitly adopted the IJ's opinion). The BIA's opinion, read in the context of the proceedings before the IJ, may show that the BIA simply adopted the IJ's reasoning rather than conduct its own, independent analysis. Here, the BIA's opinion summarizes and agrees with each of the IJ's rationales, without discussing any alternative bases for denying Borovsky's claims. Cf. Liu, 380 F.3d at 311-12 (BIA disregarded the IJ's adverse credibility finding and denied the petition on alternative grounds). By implication, the BIA's opinion was only a supplement to the IJ's decision, so we will review the IJ's decision as supplemented. See Tchemkou v. Gonzales, 495 F.3d 785, 790 (7th Cir.2007). Next, we address a second procedural issue related to the venue confusion described above. Although the parties now agree that venue is proper in the Seventh Circuit, the BIA apparently assumed that Borovsky's petition was subject to Eighth Circuit, rather than Seventh Circuit, case law. In its opinion, the BIA cited two Eighth Circuit cases, Pavlovich v. Gonzales, 476 F.3d 613 (8th Cir.2007), and Suprun v. Gonzales, 442 F.3d 1078 (8th Cir.2006), when concluding that the threats and harassment that Borovsky experienced in Ukraine did not rise to the level of persecution. The BIA did not cite any Seventh Circuit cases. The Attorney General concedes that the BIA should not have relied on Eighth Circuit case law but argues that the error was harmless. We agree. The BIA applied the standard for withholding of removal under the immigration regulations, 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b), and concluded that Borovsky failed to show persecution under that standard. Although the BIA bolstered its conclusion by citing a pair of Eighth Circuit cases, nothing suggests that the cited Pavlovich and Suprun cases were central to the BIA's decision. The BIA did not discuss these cases, and from our own reading of them, they contain no point of immigration law that conflicts with Seventh Circuit precedent. And given our conclusion above that the BIA's analysis merely supplemented the IJ's decision (which relied on Seventh Circuit case law), the BIA's passing reference to Eighth Circuit case law is even less consequential. Borovsky counters with the Chenery doctrine, under which a court cannot uphold an agency's decision on a ground not actually relied on by the agency. See SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194, 196, 67 S.Ct. 1575, 91 L.Ed. 1995 (1947). But our conclusion that the BIA's citation to Eighth Circuit case law was harmless is not the type of alternative ground barred by Chenery. The Chenery doctrine prevents a court from affirming an agency's inadequately justified decision by substituting what it considers to be a more adequate or proper basis for the decision. Id. So had the BIA mischaracterized the record in finding that Borovsky did not suffer persecution, see Kadia v. Gonzales, 501 F.3d 817, 822-23 (7th Cir.2007), or relied on facts not rationally related to the issue of persecution, see Mengistu v. Ashcroft, 355 F.3d 1044, 1047 (7th Cir.2004), we could not simply scour the record to find some alternative basis to reach the same result. Here, though, the BIA's apparent misunderstanding that Eighth Circuit law controlled does not undermine its primary ground of decision, that Borovsky failed to show persecution under the standard for withholding of removal (a standard generally applicable across all circuits). We are confident that the BIA's Eighth Circuit case citations did not affect the outcome, and we decline to send this case back only to have the BIA excise those citations from its opinion, replace them with a pair of Seventh Circuit cases, and reissue a substantially identical opinion denying Borovsky's claims.