The Ninth Circuit has granted a petition for review and remanded the case of a bisexual Russian man whose claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture were denied by an Immigration Judge and affirmed by the Board. The court held that the Immigration Judge misunderstood his proposed social group by treating bisexuality as requiring sexual relations, relying on a UNHCR definition for the proposition that sexual orientation is not defined solely by sexual conduct, and found that the Immigration Judge's errors contradicted his testimony and made meaningful review impossible.
The court also held that the Immigration Judge violated the notice-and-opportunity requirement of 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(ii). Although she made no adverse credibility finding, she first identified the missing corroboration in her written decision a week after the hearing, so he had no chance to supply the evidence or explain its unavailability. The court found the argument exhausted as a sub-argument of the corroboration issue raised before the Board and held that the lack of corroboration could not support the adverse conclusions on persecution, future fear, or torture. On remand, the Immigration Judge must reopen the hearing, reexamine group membership, and give proper notice. In a concurrence, Judge Mendoza catalogued Russia's anti-LGBTQ+ laws and violence and noted that the record does not support the suggestion that relocating to Moscow would be safe.
The full text of A.M. v. Blanche can be found here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/10/23/25-5415.pdf