Facts: In September of 2016, a citizen of Guatemala came to the firm seeking help to apply for asylum.
The Firm’s Representation: Our client was the victim of death threats after she tried to expose political corruption in her home town in Guatemala. The firm believed that our client had a strong case for asylum based on persecution on account of her anti-corruption political opinion. At trial, the government conceded that our client merited withholding of removal, but opposed a grant of asylum. After taking testimony from our client, the immigration judge adhered to the government’s position and granted withholding of removal but denied the application for asylum. The firm quickly convinced our client to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Outcome: On September 4, 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the decision of the immigration judge finding that our client had indeed met her burden to demonstrate that she was the victim of past persecution on account of her anti-corruption political opinion and remanded the case to make findings, if any, that the country conditions in Guatemala have changed to such an extent that would rebut a presumption of future persecution.
Comments: This was an odd case because our client had what seemed like a very strong asylum claim based on exposing political corruption in her country and the firm was perplexed when the immigration judge denied the claim. Thankfully, the Board of Immigration Appeal recognized the strength of our client’s claim and reversed the immigration judge’s decision.