Ninth Circuit Addresses Political Opinion Claim of Salvadoran Pastor

The Ninth Circuit has addressed the asylum claim of a Salvadoran pastor who refused to try to influence his congregation to vote for the FMLN party. “The record also compels us to conclude that Aleman satisfies the second element: the FMLN attacked Aleman because of his political-opinion-based refusal to use his role in the church to influence El Salvadoran politics.”

“The IJ’s determination that the attack on Aleman was not inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity because the FMLN had lost in local elections five days before the attack is not supported by substantial evidence. The IJ recognized that the torture Aleman suffered was at the hands of FMLN agents. Aleman was attacked five days after the FMLN lost the local election and was asked at gunpoint why he had not accepted the FMLN’s proposal. He asserts that the FMLN still controlled local government in Lourdes Colon immediately after the elections that displaced them, and supports this assertion with unrebutted testimony. In short, the IJ’s finding that no public official was involved in the torture because the FMLN had lost in the local election five days prior lacks support and is contradicted by the record.

The full text of Aleman-Belloso v. Garland can be found here:

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/11/13/23-114.pdf

Ninth Circuit Recognizes Feminist Political Opinion in Domestic Violence Asylum Claim

The Ninth Circuit has recognized that a woman who was repeatedly abused because she believed women are equal to men was persecuted on account of her political opinion. “That an unprotected ground, such as a personal dispute, also constitutes a central reason for persecution does not bar asylum.” “That some incidents of abuse may also have reflected a dysfunctional relationship is beside the point. Petitioner need not show that her political opinion—rather than interpersonal dynamics—played the sole or predominant role in her abuse.”

“Petitioner was persecuted because of that political opinion. The record contains episode after episode of men stating, quite plainly, that they were beating, burning, raping, and strangling her because she sought an equal perch in the social hierarchy. Hernandez left bite and strangulation marks on Petitioner after she took a job against his wishes, to show other men that she ‘had an owner.’ Petitioner’s husband, Baron, burned a cigarette into her face because she refused to leave her job and, according to her husband, acknowledge ‘that he’ and [Petitioner] were not equals.’ Petitioner was doing something wrong, Baron said, by ‘providing money’ when, ‘as a man, it was his duty to do [that].’ When he said that Petitioner ‘didn’t have th[e] right to have that job,’ Petitioner countered that she did. Baron responded by hitting her.”

The full text of Rodriguez Tornes v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/04/05/19-71104.pdf

Fourth Circuit Finds that Refusal to Engage in War Crimes can be Political Opinion

The Fourth Circuit has determined that a former Guatemalan military member who refused to kill a baby, and who was tortured by his fellow military members as a result, has demonstrated persecution on account of political opinion.

The full text of Lopez Ordonez v. Barr can be found here:

http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/182469.P.pdf

Second Circuit Concludes that Woman Resisting Sexual Violence may be Exhibiting a Political Opinion

The Second Circuit has concluded that a Salvadoran woman who resisted rape attempts by gang members may have exhibited an actual or imputed feminist, anti-patriarchy, or anti-gang authority political opinion. The decision recognizes that gangs essentially operate as political entities in El Salvador, and should provide excellent language for asserting political opinion in other cases involving resistance to gang authority.

The full text of Hernandez Chacon v. Barr can be found here:

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/327299e4-e63d-454c-8297-339ce94391dc/1/doc/17-3903_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/327299e4-e63d-454c-8297-339ce94391dc/1/hilite/

Ninth Circuit Finds that Protest of Eminent Domain is a form of Political Opinion

The Ninth Circuit has determined that a man who protested the Chinese government's eminent domain policy, and who was, as a result, beaten and accused of being anti-government, was persecuted on account of his political opinion.

The full text of Song v. Sessions can be found here:

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/12/18/14-71113.pdf

An amended opinion was subsequently filed and can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/02/15/14-71113.pdf