The Ninth Circuit has determined that the regulations governing internal relocation do not require the government to propose a city, state, or other type of locality as the area of relocation, rather the Department of Homeland Security may properly propose a specific or a more general area as the place of safe relocation. The Board must then conduct its safe relocation analysis with respect to that proposed area, however specifically or generally defined. “Commensurate with DHS’s burden, a more generally defined area will likely require a more comprehensive showing of proof that the entirety of the area is safe for relocation, as compared to, for example, a specific city.”
The full text of Singh v. Whitaker can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/01/24/16-70823.pdf