RELIEF FROM REMOVAL Table of Contents

1 RELIF FROM REMOVAL . Table of Contents ASYLUM, WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL and the CONVENTION AGAINST. TORTURE ..B-1. I. THE CONTEXT ..B-1. II. ASYLUM ..B-3. A. Burden of Proof ..B-3. B. Defining Persecution ..B-5. 1. Cumulative Effect of Harms ..B-5. 2. No Subjective Intent to Harm Required ..B-7. 3. Forms of Persecution ..B-7. a. Physical Violence ..B-7. (i) Physical Violence Sufficient to Constitute Persecution ..B-8. (ii) Physical Violence Insufficient to Constitute Persecution ..B-10. b. Torture ..B-11. c. Threats ..B-11. (i) Cases Holding Threats Establish Persecution ..B-11. (ii) Cases Holding Threats Not d. e. Mental, Emotional, and Psychological Harm.

2 B-14. f. Substantial Economic Deprivation ..B-14. g. Discrimination and Harassment ..B-16. 4. Age of the C. Source or Agent of Persecution ..B-18. 1. Harm Inflicted by Relatives ..B-19. 2. Reporting of Persecution Not Always 3. Cases Discussing Source or Agent of Persecution ..B-21. January 2019 B-i D. Past 1. Presumption of a Well-Founded Fear ..B-23. 2. Rebutting the Presumption of a Well-Founded Fear ..B-25. a. Fundamental Change in Circumstances ..B-25. b. Government's (i) State Department Report ..B-26. (ii) Administrative Notice of Changed Country Conditions ..B-28. c. Cases where Changed Circumstances or Conditions Insufficient to Rebut Presumption of Well-Founded Fear.

3 B-28. d. Internal 3. Humanitarian Asylum ..B-31. a. Severe Past Persecution ..B-32. (i) Compelling Cases of Past Persecution for Humanitarian Asylum ..B-33. (ii) Insufficiently Severe Past Persecution for Humanitarian Asylum ..B-34. b. Fear of Other Serious E. Well-Founded Fear of 1. Past Persecution Not 2. Subjective Prong ..B-36. 3. Objective 4. Demonstrating a Well-Founded Fear ..B-38. a. Targeted for Persecution ..B-38. b. Family Ties ..B-39. c. Pattern and Practice of Persecution ..B-40. d. Membership in Disfavored Group ..B-41. 5. Countrywide Persecution ..B-42. 6. Continued Presence of January 2019 B-ii 7. Continued Presence of Family.

4 B-44. 8. Possession of Passport or Travel Documents ..B-45. 9. Safe Return to Country of Persecution ..B-46. 10. Cases Finding No Well-Founded F. Nexus to the Five Statutorily Protected 1. Proving a Nexus ..B-48. a. Direct Evidence ..B-49. b. Circumstantial Evidence ..B-49. 2. Mixed-Motive Cases ..B-50. 3. Shared Identity Between Victim and Persecutor ..B-53. 4. Civil Unrest and 5. Resistance to Discriminatory Government Action ..B-55. 6. The Protected Grounds ..B-55. a. Race ..B-55. (i) Cases Finding Racial or Ethnic Persecution ..B-55. (ii) Cases Finding No Racial or Ethnic Persecution ..B-56. b. (i) Cases Finding Religious Persecution.

5 B-57. (ii) Cases Finding No Religious Persecution ..B-58. c. Nationality ..B-59. d. Membership in a Particular Social Group ..B-59. (i) Types of Social Groups ..B-62. (A) Family and Clan ..B-62. (B) Gender-Related Claims ..B-62. (1) Gender Defined Social Group ..B-63. (2) Gender-Specific Harm ..B-63. (C) Sexual Orientation ..B-64. (D) Former Status or Occupation ..B-65. January 2019 B-iii (ii) Cases Denying Social Group Claims ..B-66. e. Political Opinion ..B-67. (i) Organizational Membership ..B-68. (ii) Refusal to Support Organization ..B-68. (iii) Labor Union Membership and (iv) Opposition to Government Corruption ..B-69. (v) Neutrality.

6 B-71. (vi) Other Expressions of Political (vii) Imputed Political Opinion ..B-72. (A) Family Association ..B-73. (B) No Evidence of Legitimate Prosecutorial Purpose ..B-73. (C) Government Employees ..B-75. (D) Other Cases Discussing Imputed Political (viii) Opposition to Coercive Population Control Policies ..B-77. (A) Forced Abortion ..B-77. (B) Forced Sterilization ..B-78. (C) Other Resistance to a Coercive Population Control Policy ..B-79. (D) Family Members ..B-80. f. Prosecution ..B-81. (i) Pretextual Prosecution ..B-82. (ii) Illegal Departure Laws ..B-83. g. Military and Conscription Issues ..B-83. (i) Conscription Generally Not Persecution.

7 B-83. (ii) Exceptions ..B-84. (A) Disproportionately Severe Punishment .B-84. January 2019 B-iv (B) Inhuman Conduct ..B-84. (C) Moral or Religious Grounds ..B-85. (iii) Participation in Coup ..B-85. (iv) Military Informers ..B-85. (v) Military or Law Enforcement Membership ..B-86. (A) Current (B) Former Status ..B-86. (vi) Non-Governmental Conscription ..B-86. h. Cases Concluding No Nexus to a Protected G. Exercise of Discretion ..B-89. H. Remanding Under INS v. Ventura ..B-90. I. Derivative Asylees ..B-94. J. Bars to Asylum ..B-94. 1. One-Year Bar ..B-94. a. Exceptions to the Deadline ..B-96. 2. Previous Denial Bar ..B-98. 3.

8 Safe Third Country Bar ..B-98. 4. Firm Resettlement Bar ..B-99. 5. Persecution of Others Bar .. B-101. 6. Particularly Serious Crime Bar .. B-103. 7. Serious Non-Political Crime Bar .. B-105. 8. Security B-106. 9. Terrorist Bar .. B-106. III. WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL OR DEPORTATION .. B-108. A. Eligibility for Withholding .. B-108. 1. Higher Burden of Proof .. B-108. 2. Mandatory RELIEF .. B-109. 3. Nature of B-110. January 2019 B-v 4. Past Persecution .. B-110. 5. Future B-111. 6. No Time Limit .. B-111. 7. Firm Resettlement Not a Bar .. B-111. 8. Entitled to B-111. 9. Not Entitled to B-113. 10. No Derivative Withholding of REMOVAL .

9 B-115. B. Bars to Withholding .. B-115. 1. B-115. 2. Persecution-of-Others Bar .. B-115. 3. Particularly Serious Crime Bar .. B-115. 4. Serious Non-Political Crime Bar .. B-118. 5. Security and Terrorist Bar .. B-118. IV. CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE ( CAT ).. B-120. A. Standard of Review .. B-121. B. Definition of Torture .. B-122. C. Burden of Proof .. B-124. D. Country Conditions Evidence .. B-127. E. Past Torture .. B-128. F. Internal Relocation .. B-129. G. Differences Between CAT Protection and Asylum and Withholding .. B-130. H. Agent or Source of Torture .. B-130. I. Mandatory B-132. J. Nature of RELIEF .. B-133. K. Derivative Torture Claims.

10 B-133. L. Exhaustion .. B-133. M. Habeas B-134. N. Cases Granting CAT Protection .. B-134. January 2019 B-vi O. Cases Finding No Eligibility for CAT Protection .. B-135. V. CREDIBILITY DETERMINATIONS .. B-137. A. Standard of Review .. B-138. B. Opportunity to Explain .. B-141. C. Credibility Factors .. B-143. 1. Demeanor .. B-143. 2. Responsiveness .. B-143. 3. Specificity and Detail .. B-144. 4. Inconsistencies .. B-145. a. Minor Inconsistencies .. B-145. b. Substantial Inconsistencies .. B-146. c. Mistranslation/Miscommunication .. B-148. 5. Omissions .. B-149. 6. Incomplete Asylum Application .. B-150. 7. Sexual Abuse or Assault.