OPINION
Zhiqiang Hu, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of a final order of removal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). The BIA denied Hu’s applications for asylum and withholding of removal because it concluded that Hu had failed to establish that his past mistreatment was on account of a protected ground. The BIA also denied Hu’s application for protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We grant the petition for review and remand to the agency for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Factual Background 1
Zhiqiang Hu is a fifty-one year old native and citizen of China. He testified at his hearing before the Immigration Judge (“U”) that he had been a machinery mechanic for a “mid size nationally owned” factory and that he had worked at this government-owned factory since December 1979. In the affidavit Hu submitted in support of his asylum application, he stated that the government-owned factory was very successful, “[hjowever, good profit and sufficient funds encouraged corruption of the factory leadership.” Hu further stated that “factory officials often enjoyed themselves with eating, drinking and giving gifts to their business connections at public expense[.]” Hu explained that the factory leadership “spent public funds on traveling, sightseeing and took factory property as their own property.” Hu believed that the “factory was heavily in debt” because of these corrupt activities.
On March 5, 2004, Hu and approximately 500 other workers were laid off from their jobs at the government-owned factory and the factory was shut down. The workers were told that the factory was “deeply in debt” and could not pay their salaries. The laid-off workers were promised “supplemental pay” of 6,000 yuan 2 and an additional monthly salary depending on each employee’s work history.
Hu testified that these “promise[s] were not kept.” Hu and two other factory leaders, acting as representatives of the factory workers, “wrote [two] complaint letters to the [government agency in charge of the factory] to request proper arrangement for the laid-off workers.” Initially, they did not receive a response from the agency, but after further inquiry, were told to “wait.”
Faced with “life pressurefs,]” and believing they had no other options, Hu and the other two worker representatives organized a group of “more than 100 laid off workers to protest in front of the city *1014 government building.” Hu testified that the protestors did not obtain a permit for the demonstration because he believed “the government will not issue it.” Hu testified that on September 3, 2004, he arrived at the government building with the other organizers and laid-off workers at about 8:30 a.m., but the front door was “closed tightly.” The laid-off workers “wanted to go into the city government to explain [their] situation,” but the guard would not allow them to enter. The government employees in the building “did not come out to see [the protestors] and they did not allow [the protestors] to go in[side].” Thus, the group “sat quietly in front of the front gate.”
Hu testified that he believed a guard “called the police, telling them that [the protestors] are here to cause trouble.” At about 11 a.m., four police vehicles arrived at the city building and, with “police batons in their hands[, the police] rushed through the crowd of workers ... and beat the crowd.” Hu and the other two worker representatives tried to reason with the police, but the police would not talk to them. Instead, the police handcuffed them, pushed them into police cars, and took them to the police station, where they were held separately and not given any food or water.
The morning after his arrest, Hu was taken in for an interrogation. The police “accuse[d] [Hu] of gathering a crowd to cause trouble and disturb the order of the society. Acting against the government and against the [Communist] party.” The police tried to get Hu to confess to these accusations, but he refused. Hu told the police that he was “not against the government and [] did not disturb the order of society. [He was] just [in favor of] the legal rights of those laid off workers.” A police officer grabbed Hu, punched and kicked him, and slapped him in the face. Another police officer beat Hu with a baton.
Hu was placed in a cell with six other people. He testified that the room was locked, had no light, and had only a small window about one square foot in size. Hu was detained there for an additional ten days. He was given porridge and pickles to eat, and was only allowed to leave the cell “in the morning for personal hygiene.”
Hu was released after his family and friends paid “a guarantee money” of 3,000 RMB. 3 As a condition of his release, Hu was required to report every Tuesday to the police station, and was placed under the supervision of the neighborhood committees. Hu stated in his affidavit that if he violated these rules, he “would be arrested again.”
Hu diligently reported weekly to the police. He stated in his affidavit that he “was living in terror everyday[because he] was afraid that [he] may be arrested again one day.” A friend suggested Hu flee the country. Hu decided to go to the United States and his friend’s friend “handled all matters related to the visa,” including filling out Hu’s visa application. On Hu’s visa application, this friend’s friend stated that the reason for Hu’s travel to the United States was business-related and that he would be traveling with a colleague. At Hu’s consular interview, Hu told U.S. officials that he was traveling to the United States for business purposes. Hu testified before the IJ that the information in the visa application regarding his education, employment history, and current employment was false, and that he did not indicate on the visa form that he had been arrested because he believed the *1015 Chinese government would not allow him to leave the country if he did so.
On April 24, 2005, Hu arrived in the United States on a visa that was valid until July 23, 2005. Hu’s wife remained in China with their son, who at the time was very ill with a blood vessel tumor. Hu’s wife informed him that the police visited their house every ten to fourteen days looking for Hu. His wife also told Hu, “no matter what[,] you cannot come back, they have already [told] us that your charges[have] been changed. Now you are being charged for betraying your country. If you come back, you will surely die.” Hu testified that he is afraid that he would be persecuted if he is forced to return to China “[b]ecause [he] was trying to seek the legal benefit of all the laid off workers and [their] laid off salary pay.” Hu explained that he is afraid that he would be arrested again and “give[n] even more harsh punishment.”
B. The IJ and BIA Decisions
Without citing a single case, the IJ denied Hu’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT. The IJ concluded that Hu was not credible because his visa application “states that he worked as a manager for a company,” but Hu testified that “he had been laid off from his employment.” The IJ also concluded that Hu had failed to establish that he had suffered persecution on account of any of the protected grounds. The entirety of the IJ’s reasoning is as follows:
Assuming that the 9th Circuit standard for credibility holds that his statements in his declaration are consistent, the respondent was involved in a protest outside a government office for which he did not have authorization. The respondent protested being laid off. However, there is no right to employment or he has not shown that the fact that the factory was closed and that 500 employees were laid off was in any way on account of any of the protected grounds. It was an economic, at best, decision but there is no evidence that this was, in any way, related to a protected ground. Therefore, the respondent has failed to establish a nexus between the laying off. As to whether or not the respondent’s protest is protected, the Court finds that it was not and that there is no evidence that [Hu] was participating in any conduct which is protected by the asylum laws. His protest seems to have been an illegal gathering for which he was arrested for disturbing the peace. Therefore, he has not established a nexus with that conduct either. Having failed to establish a nexus for asylum, he has also failed to establish a nexus for withholding.
Finally, the IJ concluded that Hu had not established a clear probability that he would be tortured and thus also denied Hu protection under the CAT.
The BIA did not explicitly affirm the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, but “agree[d] with the [IJ’s] determination that the respondent had not established a nexus to a protected ground.” The BIA explained that “[e]ven if credible, it appears that respondent’s mistreatment arose solely because of a private dispute which does not qualify him for relief.” The BIA also rejected Hu’s claim that he was expressing a political opinion because he was a whistle-blower.
According to the BIA, Hu was not expressing a political opinion during his protest “because he was seeking redress for a private employment matter.” Since Hu failed to establish his eligibility for asylum, the BIA reasoned that he had failed to satisfy the higher standard required for withholding of removal. Finally, the BIA concluded that Hu had failed to establish that he would likely be tortured by or with *1016 the acquiescence of a government official, and therefore denied Hu protection under the CAT.
II. STANDARD AND SCOPE OF REVIEW
We review for substantial evidence the BIA’s decision that an applicant has not established eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection.
See Ahmed v. Keisler,
Our “[r]eview is limited to the BIA’s decision, except to the extent the IJ’s opinion is expressly adopted.”
Hosseini v. Gonzales,
The BIA’s decision is silent on the issue of credibility, despite the IJ’s explicit adverse credibility finding, so we may assume that the BIA found Hu to be credible.
Krotova v. Gonzales,
III. DISCUSSION
To be eligible for a discretionary grant of asylum, Hu must prove that he is a refugee; namely, that he is an alien who is “unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself ... of the protection of, [his] country [of nationality] because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A).
To establish eligibility for asylum based on past persecution, Hu must show:
(1) an incident, or incidents, that rise to the level of persecution; (2) that is ‘on account of one of the statutorily-protected grounds; and (3) is committed by the government or forces the government is .either ‘unable or unwilling’ to control.
Mengstu v. Holder,
*1017
The only element at issue in this case is whether Hu was harmed “on account of’ a protected ground. “To demonstrate a nexus between the harm [Hu] suffered and his political opinion, [Hu] must show (1) that he held, or his persecutors believed that he held, a political opinion; and (2) that he was harmed because of that political opinion.”
Baghdasaryan v. Holder,
Hu can establish the motivation of his alleged persecutors by direct or circumstantial evidence.
See Elias-Zacarias,
A. Chinese officials imputed an anti-government political opinion to Hu
An imputed political opinion is a valid basis for relief.
Canas-Segovia v. INS,
Regardless of whether Hu actually held an anti-government opinion, the record compels the conclusion that the police imputed an anti-government political opinion to Hu. They said as much to him: Hu credibly testified repeatedly that the police accused him of “acting against the government and against the [Communist] party.”
See Zhu v. Mukasey,
B. Hu’s pro-labor activities constitute a political opinion
Hu was also engaged in protected activity because he held and expressed a pro-labor political opinion. We have repeatedly recognized that labor speech in many instances can be political.
See, e.g., Zavala-Bonilla v. INS,
Hu’s engagement in labor speech is especially political because his employer
tuas
the government. Moreover, his dispute arose not from the normal course of business, but rather from official corruption and deception. Hu wrote letters to the government on behalf of the laid-off workers, led a protest against the government in front of a government building, and told Chinese officials that he was just in favor of “the legal rights of those laid off workers”
because
the government refused to pay promised severance benefits to Hu and his coworkers after failing to prevent the corruption that left them unemployed.
See also Mamouzian v. Ashcroft,
C. Hu was engaged in protected activity
Despite the compelling evidence that Chinese officials imputed an anti-government political opinion to Hu and that he was engaged in pro-labor political activities, the IJ concluded that Hu’s activities were not protected under the asylum laws because the “protest seems to have been an illegal gathering for which he was arrested for disturbing the peace.” Contrary to the IJ’s conclusion, the Chinese police officials who arrested Hu did not accuse him of illegally gathering without a permit. Rather, they accused him of “gathering a crowd to cause trouble and disturb the order of the society,” and
*1019
“[a]cting against the government and against the [Communist] party.” Perhaps a gathering without a permit disturbs the order of society, but it is hardly an act against the ruling party unless it is construed as a political protest. Even though there might have been multiple motivations for the government’s mistreatment of Hu, his credible testimony compels a finding that one of the central reasons for his alleged persecution was because of a protected ground — his expression of a political opinion, actual or imputed.
See Parussimova,
China can legitimately require permits even for peaceful demonstrations — in America the First Amendment tolerates as much — but nothing in the record suggests that Hu’s lack of a permit actually motivated the arrest and abuse.
See Yidong Bu v. Gonzales,
D. Hu has satisfied the nexus requirement
In sum, the agency’s reasons for denying Hu’s applications for asylum and withholding of removal are clearly untenable. The BIA ignored the anti-government political opinion Chinese officials imputed to Hu as a motivating factor for their abuse, and erroneously concluded that Hu’s pro-labor activities did not constitute an expression of a political opinion. Further, the IJ’s conclusion that Chinese officials mistreated Hu because of legitimate prosecution is not supported by substantial evidence.
The record compels the conclusion that Hu has satisfied the nexus requirement. Chinese officials mistreated Hu after accusing him of “[a]cting against the government and against the [Communist] party,” and persisted even after he told them he was just in favor of “the legal rights of those laid off workers.” This is clear evi
*1020
dence that Chinese officials mistreated Hu on account of a political opinion.
See Kebede v. Ashcroft,
E. Remand to the BIA
We thus grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA for a determination whether Hu is eligible for asylum and withholding of removal. Hu argues that remand is not necessary because the BIA’s conclusion that he failed to establish a nexus presupposes a finding of past persecution. But the nexus inquiry and the persecution inquiry are distinct, and neither the IJ nor the BIA reached the issue of whether the past mistreatment Hu suffered by Chinese officials constitutes past persecution, or whether Hu has a well-founded fear of future persecution. Under
INS v. Ventura,
when the BIA has not considered an issue, “the proper course, except in rare circumstances, is to remand to the agency for additional investigation or explanation.”
We also remand Hu’s CAT claim to the BIA because we cannot conduct a meaningful review of the BIA’s decision on this issue, where the BIA failed to provide a reasoned explanation of its decision.
See Movsisian v. Ashcroft,
IY. CONCLUSION
We grant the petition for review, and reverse the BIA’s finding that Hu has not established a nexus to a protected ground. We remand to the BIA to determine whether Hu has established past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution, with instructions to provide a more reasoned explanation of its decision on Hu’s CAT claim.
Petition GRANTED; REMANDED for further proceedings.
Notes
. Hu testified consistently to the facts that follow. Because the BIA did not make an explicit adverse credibility finding, we assume that the facts in Hu’s testimony and asylum application are true. See
Ernesto Navas v. INS,
. On April 21, 2011, 6,000 Chinese Yuan, also known as "RMB,” equaled approximately $921.00. See XE Currency Calculator, http:// www.xe.com/ucc/.
. On April 21, 2011, 3,000 RMB equaled approximately $461.00. See XE Currency Calculator, http://www.xe.com/ucc/.
. The government concedes that the BIA did not affirm the IJ's adverse credibility finding and that we are to presume Hu credible. "We take the government’s case as it is presented to us.”
Mamouzian v. Ashcroft,
The presumption of truth and the government’s concession are particularly reasonable here, where the IJ's adverse credibility finding is not supported by substantial evidence. The IJ erroneously concluded that inconsistencies between Hu’s testimony before the IJ and information in his U.S. visa application were material omissions supporting an adverse credibility finding.
See Akinmade v. INS,
. The REAL ID Act applies to Hu's case because he filed his application for asylum after May 11, 2005, the effective date of the REAL ID Act.
Cf. Sinha v. Holder,
. There may be situations in which an arrest for protesting without a permit is not a legitimate form of prosecution but a pretext for suppressing political dissent. As we stated in
Chanco v. INS,
"[w]hen a government does not respect the ... right to peacefully protest, punishment by such a government for a politically motivated act may arguably not constitute a legitimate exercise of sovereign authority and may amount to persecution.”