Rene Ayala-Flores v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
RENE AYALA-FLORES,
Petitioner,
v.
JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney
General,
Respondent.
No. 14-73099
Agency No. A205-931-908
MEMORANDUM*
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted September 26, 2017**
Before: SILVERMAN, TALLMAN, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Rene Ayala-Flores, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions pro se for
review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal
from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum,
withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
OCT 3 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 14-73099
We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review de novo claims of due
process violations, Hernandez v. Mukasey, 524 F.3d 1014, 1017 (9th Cir. 2008),
and review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, applying the
standards governing adverse credibility determinations created by the REAL ID
Act, Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079, 1083-84 (9th Cir. 2011). We grant the petition
for review and remand.
Substantial evidence does not support the agency’s adverse credibility
determination because it was based on inconsistencies that were trivial or
unsupported in the record, and on other unsupported findings. See Ren, 648 F.3d
at 1089 (adverse credibility finding not supported under the totality of
circumstances); see also Rodriguez v. Holder, 683 F.3d 1164, 1173 (9th Cir. 2012)
(BIA may not make its own factual findings). Further, Ayala-Flores demonstrated
that incompetent translations occurred during his asylum hearing and that they
prejudiced the outcome of his proceedings. See Perez-Lastor v. INS, 208 F.3d 773,
780 (9th Cir. 2000) (incompetent translation claim requires a showing that “a
better translation would have made a difference in the outcome of the hearing”)
(internal citation omitted).
Thus, we grant the petition for review and remand Ayala-Flores’ asylum,
withholding of removal, and CAT claims to the agency, on an open record, for
further proceedings with this disposition. See INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16-18

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3 14-73099
(2002) (per curiam); see also Soto-Olarte v. Holder, 555 F.3d 1089, 1095 (9th Cir.
2009).
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED.

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