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Tara Tidwell Cullen

 

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Immigrant Rights Organizations Ask U.S. Attorney General to Overturn Immigration Agency's Denial of Asylum for Youth Who Fled Gangs in El Salvador

Wednesday, 27 January 2010 16:45

Letter Signed by 17 Groups Challenges “Social Visibility” Requirement

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center and 16 immigrant rights organizations across the country have asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review a high-profile immigration agency decision that denied asylum to three young siblings fleeing gang recruitment in El Salvador.

 

In a letter sent today, the organizations ask Holder to certify the asylum case Matter of S-E-G- to himself to review the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) 2008 ruling in the case. That ruling denied the asylum applications of Pablo, Rene, and Silvia Mira, stating that they had not met the “particular social group” requirement for asylum because their identities as individuals who resist gang recruitment did not have “social visibility.” Identity as a member of a “particular social group” is one of the five grounds on which individuals seeking protection in the United States can base asylum claims.

 

“Vacating this decision would restore the legal analysis for these asylum cases to the proper test that has been applied in asylum cases since the 1980s,” said Mary Meg Mccarthy, executive director, Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center. “Most importantly, it would remove an unjust obstacle that has threatened the human rights of many people with legitimate asylum claims.”
The BIA’s ruling in Matter of S-E-G- has serious negative implications for a wide range of asylum seekers whose status as a member of a particular social group was not physically apparent – not only those fleeing gang violence, but also individuals escaping gender-based violence such as female genital mutilation and persecution against sexual minorities. 

 

The BIA’s use of the “social visibility” test in S-E-G- has caused significant confusion because the BIA has failed to define what “social visibility” means and has used the phrase inconsistently in its decisions. Furthermore, the BIA itself reopened S-E-G- in July 2009 and sent the Miras’ asylum case to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for reconsideration. The letter to Holder states that this decision to reopen Miras’ cases diminished the authority of the original S-E-G- ruling. 

 

Casting more doubt on the BIA’s ruling in S-E-G- are two decisions authored by Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which rejected the BIA’s “social visibility” test as an irrational rule which is inconsistent with decades of asylum decisions.

 

Download a PDF of the letter and list of signatories (PDF)

 

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center provides direct legal services to and advocates for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers through policy reform, impact litigation, and public education. For more information visit www.immigrantjustice.org.