The BIA may grant asylum for humanitarian reasons where an applicant or his family has suffered under atrocious forms of persecution, even where there is little likelihood of future persecution. When the BIA finds past persecution but no well-founded fear of future persecution, we review its denial of humanitarian asylum for an abuse of discretion. While this does not mean that she could not have been so traumatized, she failed to evince it sufficiently to support a finding of atrocity. On this record, we cannot say that the BIA abused its discretion. Belayneh also argues that the BIA should have accorded more weight to her adult son's successful asylum claim, particularly because his persecution occurred during the Mengistu regime, yet he won asylum in 1996.
Issue preclusion applies to immigration proceedings.
Further, as we have noted, the country conditions have changed since his petition was considered.