The Ninth Circuit has emphasized that the Board of Immigration Appeals may not ignore a petitioner’s claim to have been persecuted in the country of resettlement when determining if the firm resettlement bar applies to an asylum application. In addition, the firm resettlement bar acts as a statutory bar to asylum, not a limitation as to what evidence of past persecution a court must consider. Evidence of past persecution in the applicant’s home country is relevant to an application for withholding of removal, which is not subject to the firm resettlement bar.
The full text of Arrey v. Barr can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/02/26/16-73373.pdf