Under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A), the Attorney General may grant "asylum" to an alien who qualifies as a "refugee" under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). A refugee is a person who (1) is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country "because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution" and (2) has demonstrated that "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion was or will be at least one central reason for the persecution." Orellana-Monson v. Holder, 685 F.3d 511, 518 (5th Cir. 2012) (emphasis and internal quotation marks omitted); see 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b) ("The applicant may qualify as a refugee either because he or she has suffered past persecution or because he or she has a well-founded fear of future persecution."). To establish a "well-founded fear," the person must demonstrate a subjective fear, and that fear must be objectively reasonable. Sharma v. Holder, 729 F.3d 407, 413 (5th Cir. 2013). The person must support the claim with "specific, detailed facts showing a good reason to fear that he or she will be singled out for persecution." Orellana-Monson, 685 F.3d at 518 (quoting Faddoul v. INS, 37 F.3d 185, 188 (5th Cir. 1994)). Hebtemariam v. Holder, (5th Cir. 2014).
This means asylum applicants must show either past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution because of membership in a protected class. See Wang v. Gonzales, 445 F.3d 993, 997-98 (7th Cir.2006). An applicant's proof of past persecution can come from multiple sources, including a recitation of her experiences in her asylum application, testimony at her immigration hearing, and any supporting documentary evidence, if it exists. Capric v. Ashcroft, 355 F.3d 1075, 1085 (7th Cir.2004). Georgieva v. Holder, 751 F. 3d 514 (7th Cir. 2014).
An alien must file an application for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). The burden is on the alien to establish eligibility for asylum, including the element that he timely filed the application. Id. Despite this requirement, an alien's asylum application may be considered "if he demonstrates ... either the existence of changed circumstances which may materially affect his eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing the application within the prescribed one-year period." Bitsin v. Holder, 719 F.3d 619, 625 (7th Cir.2013) (quoting language from 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D)) (internal quotation marks omitted). However, courts may not "review a determination regarding the timeliness of an alien's application for asylum or the existence of changed or extraordinary circumstances to excuse his late filing," unless for "constitutional claims or questions of law related to the timely filing of an asylum application." Id. Minghai Tian v. Holder, 745 F. 3d 822 (7th Cir. 2014).
"A request for withholding of removal is automatically included in an application for asylum." Khrystotodorov, 551 F.3d at 781 (citing 8 C.F.R. § 1208.3(b)). "Removal to a specific country must be withheld if the alien established a 'clear probability' of persecution in that country." Rife, 374 F.3d at 613; see also Garcia-Colindres v. Holder, 700 F.3d 1153, 1158 (8th Cir.2012). Meeting the "clear probability" standard for withholding of removal is more onerous than establishing the well-founded fear of persecution required for asylum. Rife, 374 F.3d at 613. Thus, if an applicant fails to demonstrate eligibility for asylum, he necessarily fails to demonstrate eligibility for withholding of removal. Khrystotodorov, 551 F.3d at 781. Agha v. Holder, 743 F. 3d 609 (8th Cir. 2014).
THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of 51 U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss issues surrounding applications for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. The selection of decisions spans from 2010 to the date of publication.