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Keywords

statuteasylum

statutetestimonyasylumattachment

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Li v. Ashcroft

Facts

Li and her boyfriend, Yu, lived in a rural village in Fujian, China, where they faced persecution due to their relationship and Li's defiance of the government's population control policies. After false rumors of Li's pregnancy, local officials subjected her to a forced gynecological examination, threatening her with abortion and Yu with sterilization. They fled to the United States, where they applied for asylum but were initially denied by the immigration judge and the BIA.

Li and her boyfriend, Yu, lived in a rural village in the province of Fujian, China. After they met, they formed a nearly immediate attachment. They spent a great deal of time with each other and were quite open about their desire to marry.

Issue

Whether Li's forced gynecological examination and the threats she faced constituted persecution on account of her political opinion, thereby qualifying her for asylum under U.S. law.

At issue here is the application of another category of asylum-seekers covered by this statute: those persecuted for 'other resistance' to those policies.

Rule

Under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(B), individuals who are forced to undergo abortion or sterilization or who are persecuted for other resistance to coercive population control policies are deemed to have been persecuted on account of political opinion.

In 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(B), Congress made clear that individuals forced to undergo abortion or sterilization would be deemed to have been persecuted on account of political opinion.

Analysis

The court determined that Li's actions of publicly opposing the population control policies and her subsequent forced examination were directly linked to her resistance. The evidence presented showed that the examination was not a legitimate medical procedure but rather an act of intimidation, fulfilling the criteria for persecution under the statute.

Li's forced pregnancy examination and the events that followed clearly constitute persecution. Following through on threats that she would 'pay' for her announced opposition to government policy, local officials forcibly took Li to a birth control center where she was put on a bench and held down by two nurses.

Conclusion

The court granted Li's petition for review of her asylum application and remanded Yu's petition for further consideration, recognizing the serious nature of the threats they faced in China.

We grant Li's petition and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Who won?

Li prevailed in the case as the court found that she had demonstrated past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution due to her resistance to China's population control policies.

Li qualifies for asylum under the 'other resistance' category of the statute. Her testimony, which the IJ found credible, compellingly demonstrates that she was persecuted on account of her resistance to a coercive population control program.

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