Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

IN a reversal of the Bush administration’s policy, the Obama administration submitted a brief in a Federal Court of Appeals case to support a grant of asylum to a woman subjected to extreme sexual abuse in her home country. Over the past eight years, pleas from attorneys and immigration advocacy groups to expand the rigid bases for asylum eligibility to include sexual abuse victims had fallen on deaf ears in Washington. With the filing of its brief in the Court of Appeals case, "Matter of L.R," however, the administration has sent a clear signal that such abuses should not be tolerated in any society and the US asylum law will offer the victims relief.

Generally, US immigration law allows any person in the US who has been "persecuted" or fears persecution in his home country to file for asylum. If asylum is granted, the "asylee" is allowed to remain in the US indefinitely and apply for lawful permanent resident status ("green card") after one year. In order to qualify for asylum, however, the applicant must establish that their persecutor is motivated to do them harm, at least in part, "on account of" one of the "five protected grounds," which include (1) political opinion, (2) race, (3) religion, (4) nationality, or (5) membership in a particular social group.  The successful asylum applicant must also establish that the persecutor is either the Government in their home country, or a group or individual that the Government is unable or unwilling to control. 

In the case at issue, a woman sought asylum due to repeated rapes, captivity and an attempted burning while alive perpetrated by her "common law husband" in her home country. Previously, victims of abuse were denied asylum, because the USCIS and the Bush administration argued that the harm suffered, i.e. persecution, was not related to one of the five protected grounds for asylum. The Whitehouse now espouses a view that victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse could be considered a "social group," thereby basing their claims on one of the protected grounds. The Brief concluded, therefore, that "it is possible that [the victim in Matter of L.R.] and other victims of domestic violence could qualify for asylum."

The Government’s modified interpretation of asylum law will offer protection to many victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The Brief counseled, however, that in addition to the basic requirements of asylum law, a victim of such abuse must show that she was viewed as subordinate by her abuser and that domestic abuse is widely tolerated in their home country. The filing of the brief could mark an end to nearly 13 years or legal turmoil addressing asylum eligibility for victims of severe abuse.

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Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a "full-service Immigration Law firm." E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and www.hanlon-greene.com

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on July 22, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. B2 )