In re S-A

33 Citing cases

  1. Antonio v. Barr

    959 F.3d 778 (6th Cir. 2020)   Cited 41 times
    Holding that "the Board's conclusion [was] not supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole" and that the PSG determination "will be dependent upon the particular facts and evidence in a case"

    For example, in In re S-A , the Board found that an applicant was eligible for asylum when she suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her father. In re S-A- , 22 I. & N. Dec. 1328 (BIA 2000). Relying on evidence showing that "in Morocco, domestic violence is commonplace and legal remedies are generally unavailable to women," and that " ‘few women report abuse to authorities’ because the judicial procedure is skewed against them," the Board held that "even if the respondent had turned to the government for help, Moroccan authorities would have been unable or unwilling to control her father’s conduct."

  2. Arevalo-Velasquez v. Whitaker

    No. 18-60198 (5th Cir. Feb. 11, 2019)   Cited 6 times
    Stating that an applicant's "subjective belief" that reporting abuse to the police would be futile because "the police can be bribed . . . is not sufficient to compel a conclusion that the Honduran government was unable or unwilling to protect" the applicant

    Arevalo asserts the BIA erred as a matter of law in affirming the IJ's determination that she failed to establish eligibility for asylum by not demonstrating Honduran government officials were unwilling or unable to protect her from past or future harm. She contends an applicant is not required to report her abuse to establish the government is unable or unwilling to control her abuser, where available country conditions show few women make such reports "because the judicial procedure is skewed against them" citing In re S-A-, 22 I. & N. Dec. 1328, 1332-33 (BIA 2000). Arevalo testified: she went to a town two hours away from where she lived and the abuse occurred; told a police sergeant about the abuse; was told to make a formal complaint and/or seek a protective order; and did neither because she was afraid.

  3. Gaye v. Lynch

    788 F.3d 519 (6th Cir. 2015)   Cited 42 times
    Discussing due process claim arising from IJ substitution, but dismissing claim on jurisdictional grounds because the petitioner failed to exhaust it before the BIA

    The BIA accordingly views an applicant's credibility as a threshold issue. See In Re S–A–, 22 I. & N. Dec. 1328, 1331 (BIA 2000) ; In Re O–D–, 21 I. & N. Dec. 1079, 1081 (BIA 1998). An IJ must provide specific reasons to support her credibility findings so as to allow meaningful review.

  4. Rahimzadeh v. Holder

    613 F.3d 916 (9th Cir. 2010)   Cited 66 times
    Finding the Danish government was not unable or unwilling to control extremists based on "active efforts to address and control violence by radical religious groups"

    See, e.g., In re S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1330, 1332-33, 1335 (B.I.A. 2000). In In re S-A-, a Moroccan woman suffered emotional and physical abuse by her father because her liberal Muslim beliefs clashed with his orthodox Muslim beliefs. 22 I. N. Dec. at 1329.

  5. Afriyie v. Holder

    613 F.3d 924 (9th Cir. 2010)   Cited 111 times
    Holding that even if evidence "suggests that the police were willing to protect [petitioner], that says little if anything about whether they were able to do so"

    We begin by noting that reporting persecution to government authorities is not essential to demonstrating that the government is unable or unwilling to protect him from private actors. See Rahimzadeh v. Holder, 613 F.3d. 916, 921-22, 2010 WL 2890998 (9th Cir. 2010); In re S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1335 (BIA 2000); see also Ornelas-Chavez v. Gonzales, 458 F.3d 1052, 1058 (9th Cir. 2006) (so holding in the withholding of removal context). Rather, "the absence of a report to police . . . leaves a gap in proof about how the government would respond, which the petitioner may attempt to fill by other methods." Rahimzadeh 613 F.3d at 922, 2010 WL 2890998, *4.

  6. Ayala v. U.S.

    605 F.3d 941 (11th Cir. 2010)   Cited 220 times
    Granting relief where alien "testified that the police officers assaulted him outside of a gay nightclub and told him to shut up because he was queer and they could apply the vagrancy laws and they could incarcerate him or plant drugs in his house and that was all as a result of being queer" (quotation marks, alterations omitted)

    We explained that, "[a]though the failure to report persecution to local government authorities generally is fatal to an asylum claim," the Board of Immigration Appeals had held that the reporting requirement "would be excused where the petitioner convincingly demonstrates that those authorities would have been unable or unwilling to protect her, and for that reason she could not rely on them." Id. at 1345; see also In re S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1335 (BIA 2000). In re S-A-, the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals that we cited in Lopez, also involved persecution by a private actor.

  7. Mejilla-Romero v. Holder

    600 F.3d 63 (1st Cir. 2010)   Cited 6 times

    He argues that efforts to involve authorities are unnecessary when it is clear from the record that they "would have been unable or unwilling" to help. See In re S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1335 (BIA 2000). The argument again misses the mark.

  8. Lopez v. U.S. Attorney General

    504 F.3d 1341 (11th Cir. 2007)   Cited 94 times
    Holding that the BIA erred by reasoning "that the failure to seek protection without more is enough to defeat a claim for asylum," and remanding to the BIA to consider in the first instance petitioner's testimony and country reports, applying In re S–A–

    The BIA ruled that because Lopez did not "seek protection from law enforcement authorities in Colombia after her encounters with the [FARC] . . . she failed to demonstrate that the Colombian government is unable or unwilling to protect her." Although it is not entirely clear, the ruling appears to be that the failure to seek protection without more is enough to defeat a claim for asylum. If so, that decision is not fully consistent with In re S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1335 (BIA 2000). Although the failure to report persecution to local government authorities generally is fatal to an asylum claim, Mazariegos, 241 F.3d at 1327, the BIA in S-A- held that it would be excused where the petitioner convincingly demonstrates that those authorities would have been unable or unwilling to protect her, and for that reason she could not rely on them. 22 I. N. Dec. at 1335.

  9. Kere v. Gonzales

    No. 06-4090 (6th Cir. Oct. 19, 2007)   Cited 7 times
    Determining that no persecution exists where family members abused applicant because there was no evidence that the government was unable or unwilling to control the family members' conduct and protect the applicant

    " Mikhailevitch, 146 F.3d at 389. Kere argues that Matter of S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328 (BIA 2000), dictates a different conclusion. According to Kere, Matter of S-A- "stands for the proposition that a credible fear of persecution by a non-governmental actor on account of religious beliefs is a sufficient basis for asylum when the government is unable or unwilling to control the non-governmental actor to prevent the persecution."

  10. Lopez v. U.S.

    490 F.3d 1312 (11th Cir. 2007)   Cited 5 times
    Discussing the "ordinary remand rule"

    Although it is not entirely clear, the ruling appears to be that the failure to seek protection without more is enough to defeat a claim for asylum. If so, that decision is not fully consistent with S-A-, 22 I. N. Dec. 1328, 1335 (BIA 2000). Although the failure to report persecution to local government authorities generally is fatal to an asylum claim, Mazariegos, 241 F.3d at 1327, the BIA in S-A- held that it would be excused where the petitioner convincingly demonstrates that those authorities would have been unable or unwilling to protect her, and for that reason she could not rely on them.