Zhou Hua Zhu v. U.S. Attorney General

MARCUS, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Zhou Hua Zhu seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision denying him asylum and ordering him removed to the People’s Republic of China. At issue in this appeal is whether the BIA erred when it overturned the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) factual findings — particularly the finding that Zhu would likely be forcibly sterilized upon returning to China — not through the prism of clear error review, but rather after its own de novo consideration of the evidence. Under the relevant regulation, 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)(8), the BIA is empowered to…