Source: https://casetext.com/case/balasubramanrim-v-immigration-and-natural
Timestamp: 2019-02-17 22:29:17
Document Index: 715029422

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1182', '§ 1182', '§ 1182', '§ 1105', '§ 1101', '§ 1253', '§ 1158', '§ 1101', '§ 1253']

Balasubramanrim v. Immigration and Natural, 143 F.3d 157 | Casetext
Balasubramanrim v. Immigration and Natural
143 F.3d 157 (3d Cir. 1998)
Balasubramanrimv.Immigration and Natural
United States Court of Appeals, Third CircuitMay 1, 1998
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On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, (Board No. A73 489 747)
VISUVANATHAN RUDRAKUMARAN, ESQUIRE, (ARGUED), 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 500, New York, New York 10001, Attorney for Petitioner.
PAULINE TERRELONGE, ESQUIRE, (ARGUED), DAVID V. BERNAL, ESQUIRE, SUSIE CHO, ESQUIRE, CHRISTOPHER C. FULLER, ESQUIRE, MICHAEL P. LINDEMANN, ESQUIRE, MADELINE HENLEY, ESQUIRE, United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation Civil Division, P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044, Attorneys of Respondent.
Since 1987, civil unrest has disrupted life in Sri Lanka. The conflict stems primarily from tensions between the minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese. In an effort to establish an independent Tamil state in the north, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been in armed conflict with the government and Indian peacekeeping forces since 1987. Although the Liberation Tigers have succeeded in controlling much of the Northern Province and parts of the Eastern Province, not all Tamils support them. In fact, the Eelam People's Democratic Party, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization all cooperate with the government security forces.
About 18% of Sri Lanka's population is Tamil while 74% is Sinhalese. The Tamils are predominantly Hindu while the Sinhalese are predominantly Buddhist.
In July 1987, the Government of Sri Lanka entered an agreement with the Government of India under which India stationed forces in Sri Lanka through March, 1990. Although initially the Indian forces were able to maintain a low level of violence, fighting broke out between the Indians and the Liberation Tigers in 1988 and 1989.
In his application for asylum, Balasubramanrim claims he was a victim of these abuses and that if he returns to Sri Lanka he will again be persecuted. Balasubramanrim claims to have been arrested, detained, and tortured on several occasions by the armed forces of the Sri Lankan government, the Indian peacekeeping forces, and the Liberation Tigers. Specifically, in his application, Balasubramanrim described the following events: (1) In March 1988, he was arrested by the Indian peacekeeping forces and taken to a camp where he was accused of being a "Tiger" and beaten; (2) in November 1989, he was again arrested (the administrative record is unclear on who arrested him) because he refused to join the ranks of one of the political fighting forces, was tortured for an entire day, and remained in custody for five days; (3) in March 1990, the Tigers arrested him for 10 days and accused him of being an informant for the Indian Peacekeeping Forces, a charge which he claims was untrue; (4) in 1991, his brother disappeared after being arrested by the Sri Lankan army; (5) in 1993, his father was killed by Sri Lankan air bombs; (6) in October 1993, he fled northern Sri Lanka but was arrested for failing to register in the new area; (7) also in October 1993, after accusing Balasubramanrim of being a Tiger, the Sri Lankan army arrested, detained, and tortured him for one year and ten days; eventually, his wife bribed the army for his release; (8) in late 1994, Sri Lankan armed forces arrested him at the airport as he was trying to leave the country with his family, and he was detained and tortured for four months and ten days.
Balasubramanrim's wife and child successfully fled to Canada where they were given refugee status.
A. today I am going to Toronto
A. The will kill me.
A. I was arrested also, by LTT [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealan], they kept me for 10 (Ten) days. After I gave them money they let me go — $12,000 Sri Lanka Rubies.
Subsequently, Balasubramanrim appeared before the immigration judge. Consistent with his application for asylum and withholding of deportation, Balasubramanrim testified about numerous instances of mistreatment at the hands of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers. But on August 29, 1995, the immigration judge found Balasubramanrim excludable, denied his application for asylum and withholding of deportation, and ordered him deported to Sri Lanka. The immigration judge concluded that Balasubramanrim had not told the truth about his prior arrests and his fears about returning to Sri Lanka. The immigration judge also expressed doubts about Balasubramanrim's credibility because he did not look at him while testifying and instead stared straight ahead "as though in a trance." Balasubramanrim appealed.
The Immigration Judge found Balasubramanrim excludable because he had no valid immigration visa, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) (1994); was a nonimmigrant without a valid passport, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(B)(i)(I); and had no valid nonimmigrant visa or border crossing card, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(B)(i)(II). Balasubramanrim does not appeal these findings.
While the appeal to the Board was pending, the INS agreed to parole Balasubramanrim to Canada, where his family resides, and Balasubramanrim withdrew his appeal. Later, according to Balasubramanrim, the INS changed its policy and would not parole him to Canada. Subsequently, the Board allowed him to reinstate his appeal.
The Board conducted an independent review of Balasubramanrim's credibility and upheld the judgment of the immigration judge. The Board did not put any stock in the immigration judge's reliance on Balasubramanrim's failure to make eye contact but nevertheless found him not credible and on July 10, 1997 dismissed his appeal. The Board was particularly troubled by what it saw as inconsistencies between Balasubramanrim's testimony at the hearing and his airport statement. As noted, one board member dissented.
Specifically, the Board stated: "the Immigration Judge's perception of the applicant's `body language' at the hearing is not a matter on which we place any significant weight, as such behavior is amenable to varying explanations."
Whether an asylum applicant has demonstrated a well-founded fear of persecution is a factual determination reviewed under the substantial evidence standard. Chang v. INS, 119 F.3d 1055, 1060 (3d Cir. 1997). We will uphold the agency's findings of fact to the extent they are "supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole." INS v. Elias- Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 (1992) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(4)). Likewise, adverse credibility determinations are reviewed for substantial evidence. Hartooni v. INS, 21 F.3d 336, 340 (9th Cir. 1994); Cordero-Trejo v. INS, 40 F.3d 482, 487 (1st Cir. 1994).
8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). Thus, Balasubramanrim has the burden to show that he qualifies as a refugee because he was persecuted in the past or has a "well-founded fear" of future persecution on the ground of, inter alia, political opinion, which is the basis of his appeal.
In addition, Balasubramanrim applied for withholding of deportation. Section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h) (1994), requires withholding of deportation of an alien "if the Attorney General determines that such alien's life or freedom would be threatened in such country on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." Eligibility for withholding of deportation under section 243(h) of the INA involves a stricter standard ("clear probability") than eligibility for asylum. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430-31 (1987).
Where the immigration judge makes a credibility determination, the Board can independently assess that determination and make de novo findings on credibility. See Damaize-Job v. INS, 787 F.2d 1332, 1338 (9th Cir. 1986) ("The Board has the power to review the record de novo and make its own findings of fact, including credibility determinations."). In this case, the Board conducted such an assessment and found Balasubramanrim not credible. As noted, we review the Board's adverse credibility determination for substantial evidence. Hartooni, 21 F.3d at 340. "The Board's findings . . . must . . . be set aside when the record before a Court of Appeals clearly precludes the Board's decision from being justified by a fair estimate of the worth of the testimony of witnesses or its informed judgment on matters within its special competence or both." Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 490 (1951). Though we defer to reasonable inferences drawn by the Board from conflicting evidence, "deference is not due where findings and conclusions are based on inferences or presumptions that are not reasonably grounded in the record, viewed as a whole." Cordero-Trejo, 40 F.3d at 487 (citations omitted).
A: I was arrested also, by LTT, they kept me for 10 (ten) days. After I gave them money they let me go — $12,000 Sri Lanka Rubies.
Yet an examination of the record reveals that Balasubramanrim's airport interview may not represent an accurate account of the persecution he suffered in Sri Lanka. If this is so, then, under the fact of this case, the Board placed undue reliance on the airport interview.
Second, the airport statement is not an application for asylum. The questions posed were not designed to elicit the
details of an asylum claim, and it appears the airport examiner in this case had no interest in developing the details of a potential asylum claim. For example, at one point, the following exchange took place:
But remarkably there was no follow up question. The examiner did not inquire who would kill Balasubramanrim or why. The next question was: "How did you get to the U.S. from Sri Lanka?" In addition, the airport statement itself contains inconsistent responses that the INS examiner did not clarify. For example, the examiner asked Balasubramanrim if he had ever been arrested, and, according to the handwritten document, he said that he hadn't. Later, in response to another question, Balasubramanrim told the INS officers: "I was also arrested by the LTT, they kept me for 10 days, after I gave them money, they let me go." But this apparent inconsistency was never explored. Nor was Balasubramanrim's use of the word "also", which might imply there was more than one arrest.
Unfortunately, Balasubramanrim's attempt to explain the lack of arrest information in the airport statement is marked "indiscernible" in the asylum hearing transcript. When the immigration judge questioned Balasubramanrim concerning his statement that he had never been arrested or detained and that he was in trouble because of his brother's activities, he responded: "I told them that I was not arrested in (indiscernible)." We are left guessing as to this critical aspect of the credibility determination in this case.
That there were some inconsistencies between the airport statement and Balasubramanrim's testimony before the immigration judge is not sufficient, standing alone, to support the Board's finding that Balasubramanrim was not credible. See Aguilera-Cota v. INS, 914 F.2d 1375, 1382 (9th Cir. 1990) (finding that inconsistencies between an applicant's written asylum application and his testimony at the asylum hearing are not enough, standing alone, to serve as a basis for finding a lack of credibility). We find that the Board's credibility determination was not reasonable because the airport interview alone in this case does not serve as a "valid ground[ ] upon which to base a finding that an asylum applicant is not credible." Id. (citations omitted).
Balasubramanrim applied for asylum and withholding of deportation. As noted, under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, if the Attorney General determines that an alien is a refugee within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A), then the Attorney General has the discretion to grant the alien asylum. A refugee is eligible for asylum if he was persecuted in the past or has a "well-founded fear" of future persecution on the ground of, inter alia, political opinion, which is the basis of the Balasubramanrim's appeal. Id. In addition, 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h) requires withholding of deportation of an alien "if the Attorney General determines that such alien's life would be threatened on account of . . . political opinion." Eligibility for withholding of deportation involves a stricter standard ("clear probability") than eligibility for asylum. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430-31 (1987). The well-founded fear standard has a subjective and an objective component. Id. at 430-31. The alien must show that "he has a subjective fear of persecution that is supported by objective evidence that persecution is a reasonable possibility." Chang, 119 F.3d at 1066. When documentary evidence is lacking, as in the instant case, the applicant's credible, persuasive, and specific testimony may suffice. Aguilera-Cota v. INS, 914 F.2d 1375, 1378 (9th Cir. 1990).
The persecution may be on account of a political opinion the applicant actually holds or on account of one the foreign government has imputed to him. Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1489 (9th Cir. 1997). See also Cruz-Diaz v. INS, 86 F.3d 330, 332 (4th Cir. 1996) (rejecting applicant's asylum claim because "the evidence does not compel the conclusion that Cruz-Diaz will be subjected to persecution or other harm based on actual or imputed political opinion"); Singh v. Ilchert, 63 F.3d 1501, 1509 (9th Cir. 1995) (relying on evidence that the applicant was tortured because he was suspected of being a Sikh separatist); Ravindran v. INS, 976 F.2d 754, 760 (1st Cir. 1992) (citation omitted) ("An imputed political opinion, whether correctly or incorrectly attributed, may constitute a reason for political persecution within the meaning of the Act."); Rajaratnam v. Moyer, 832 F. Supp. 1219, 1223 (N.D. Ill. 1993) (finding eligibility for asylum based on evidence that applicant was persecuted because the authorities suspected him of being a member of the Liberation Tigers).