Court Opinion

ID: 9870040
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-26 19:47:45.680471+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:46:06.496395
License: Public Domain

Wardlaw, J.,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I would also remand Mejia’s CAT claim to the BIA to allow the agency, in the first instance, to conduct an individualized review of the administrative record, rather than rejecting this claim based solely on the almost decade-old decision in Villegas v. Mukasey, 523 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2008). While “specific intent” is the correct legal standard, the BIA must conduct an individualized inquiry to determine whether such “specific intent” currently exists. See Villegas, 523 F.3d at 989 (“We agree with Villegas that we must assess the conditions as they currently exist.”).