Impact: Defining "Particular Social Group" in Asylum Law

In the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case Martinez-Buendia v. Holder, NIJC established that people who are persecuted because of their perceived political activity are eligible for asylum as “members of a particular social group.” Ms. Buendia led a “health brigade” in Colombia, an organization that provides healthcare to the country’s rural poor. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) opposed health brigades which they did not control and demanded that Ms. Buendia attribute her activities to the FARC. When Ms. Buendia refused, the FARC inaccurately assumed that Ms. Buendia was pro-government and anti-communist and attempted to kidnap and murder her. The Seventh Circuit agreed with NIJC’s argument that the FARC’s targeting of Ms. Buendia based on its perception that she supported the Colombian government made her eligible for asylum.