PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 18-1955 ____________ GUNAWAN LIEM, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA: A079-709-771) Immigration Judge: Honorable Alberto J. Riefkohl Argued on February 6, 2019 (Opinion filed April 19, 2019) Before: HARDIMAN, SCIRICA, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges James D. Arden Melanie Berdecia Samuel S. Choi [Argued] Eamon P. Joyce Sidley Austin 787 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019 Counsel for Petitioner Joseph H. Hunt Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division Song Park Senior Litigation Counsel Joseph A. O’Connell [Argued] United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent 2 OPINION RENDELL, Circuit Judge: Gunawan Liem, an Indonesian national, petitions for review of the denial of his motion to reopen his removal proceedings. Although these motions are disfavored, the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “BIA”) is still required to meaningfully consider the evidence and arguments presented by a petitioner and must explain its conclusions. Because the BIA failed to do so in this case, we will grant Liem’s petition for review, vacate the order denying his motion to reopen, and remand to the BIA for further proceedings. I. A. Liem is a native and citizen of Indonesia. He is also ethnically Chinese and a practicing Seventh Day Adventist Christian, making him a member of two minority groups in his country of origin. While in Indonesia, Liem witnessed and experienced persecution based on his belonging to these groups.1 As a result, he sought refuge in the United States and, 1 Liem has alleged three specific instances of persecution: First, he witnessed “Muslims . . . taking over the town [he] lived in” and “burning down Christian churches.” AR 75. Second, his father, who conducted business buying and selling jewelry, was accused of having purchased stolen jewelry. 3 in 1999, was granted a six-month visa for vacationing. He stayed beyond the expiration of his visa and established a life here by obtaining gainful employment, marrying his wife, and fathering two American-born children. Most notably for our purposes, he has been an active congregant of his local church, the First Indonesian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and has also served the church as a deacon. In 2003, approximately four years after entering the United States, Liem filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the regulations implementing the Convention Against Torture (the “CAT”). The Immigration Judge (the “IJ”) denied his application for asylum as untimely but granted withholding of removal. Although the IJ expressed some doubt as to whether Liem would be in “direct danger” if he returned to Indonesia, he resolved the issue in favor of Liem because he “[was] not willing to take any chances at th[e] moment and . . . [Liem] [wa]s asking only for temporary protection.” AR 832–33. The Government appealed, and the BIA vacated the IJ’s ruling because Liem “failed ...
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