Opinion ID: 3065093
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Refugee Protocol and Convention

Text: [7] Khan also argues that the international law obligations of the United States under the 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (“the Protocol”) compel a narrower definition of “terrorist activity.” 19 U.S.T. 6223, 606 U.N.T.S. 268 (Jan. 31, 1967). “The Protocol [binds] parties to comply with the substantive provisions of Articles 2 through 34 of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees [(“Refugee Convention”)] . . . with respect to ‘refugees’ defined in Article 1.2 of the Protocol.” INS v. 12776 KHAN v. HOLDER Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 416 (1984). Article 1.2 of the Protocol defines “refugee” as an individual who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. UN Protocol, Article 1.2 (relying on Refugee Convention, Article 1A(2)). The Refugee Convention excepts from coverage any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that:
peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the interna- tional instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes;
political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee;
the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Refugee Convention, Article 1F, 189 U.N.T.S. 150 (Jul. 28, 1951) (adopted in the Protocol, Article 1.2). The Refugee KHAN v. HOLDER 12777 Convention includes the duty of non-refoulement in Article 33.1, providing that No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Refugee Convention, Article 33.1. Article 33.2 of the Refugee Convention provides an exception from this duty: The benefit of the present provision may not, how- ever, be claimed by a refugee whom there are rea- sonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, hav- ing been convicted by a final judgement of a particu- larly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country. Refugee Convention, Article 33.2. Khan argues that Article 33.2 and Article 1F provide the only permissible grounds on which a country can refoul a refugee. Therefore, he contends that the INA’s terrorism bar to relief from removal can only apply to individuals who (1) have been implicated in a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity; (2) have committed a serious non-political crime; (3) have been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes or principles of the United Nations; (4) may constitute a danger to the security of this country; or (5) having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitute a danger to the community. He argues that the IJ’s interpretation of “terrorist activity” covers actions that do not satisfy any of these five criteria, and that such a broad bar to relief from removal therefore violates the United States’ international obligations under the Protocol. 12778 KHAN v. HOLDER [8] The United States acceded to the Protocol in 1968, though it did not sign the Convention itself. Stevic, 467 U.S. at 416 & n.9. However, the Protocol is not self-executing. Barapind v. Reno, 225 F.3d 1100, 1107 (9th Cir. 2000) (citing Stevic, 467 U.S. at 428 n.22). A “self-executing” treaty has “automatic domestic effect as federal law upon ratification. Conversely, a ‘non-self-executing’ treaty does not by itself give rise to domestically enforceable federal law.” Medellin v. Texas, 128 S. Ct. 1346, 1356 n.2 (2008). Therefore, the Protocol does not have the force of law in American courts. Instead, the Supreme Court and our court have both stated that the Protocol “serves only as a useful guide in determining congressional intent in enacting the Refugee Act” of 1980, which sought to bring United States refugee law into conformity with the Protocol. Barapind, 225 F.3d at 1106-07; see also INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 436-37 (1987); Stevic, 467 U.S. at 428 n. 22; United States v. Aguilar, 883 F.2d 662, 680 (9th Cir. 1989), superseded by statute on other grounds, P.L. No. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359, as stated in United States v. Gonzalez-Torres, 309 F.3d 594 (9th Cir. 2002). [9] These cases do not discuss whether the Protocol is also a “useful guide” in interpreting provisions of the INA that were not enacted with the Protocol in mind, such as the terrorism bars to relief from removal. However, we follow the general rule of the Charming Betsy canon that “an act of Congress ought never to be construed to violate the law of nations, if any other possible construction remains.” Murray v. The Schooner Charming Betsy, 6 U.S. 64, 118 (1804). Under Charming Betsy, we should interpret the INA in such a way as to avoid any conflict with the Protocol, if possible. Khan’s argument that the terrorism bar violates the obligations of the United States in the Protocol fails because the Protocol does not conflict with the INA’s definition of “terrorist activity.” The Protocol, through Refugee Convention Article 33.2, allows the United States to refoul an individual” whom there KHAN v. HOLDER 12779 are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security” of the United States. Neither the Refugee Convention nor the Protocol defines “danger to the security” of the United States. Relying on law review articles, publications of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, and a Canadian Supreme Court opinion, Khan argues that the meaning of “danger to the security” must be limited in three ways. He contends that (1) “danger to the security” can only apply to individuals who pose a present danger to the United States; (2) the danger must be a serious threat to national security; and (3) the danger must be proved, not simply assumed. He further argues, using similar sources, that refoulement is an act of last resort that the United States can employ only after attempting to contain an individual’s danger to the country’s security through criminal prosecution or removal to a third country. [10] We disagree. We have already stated that “the determination of refugee status . . . is incumbent upon the Contracting State in whose territory the refugee finds himself.” Aguilar, 883 F.2d at 680 (quoting the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status (Geneva 1979), which “provides significant guidance in construing the Protocol” (internal quotations omitted)); see also Maximov v. United States, 373 U.S. 49, 53 (1963). The INA provides that “an alien who [has engaged in a terrorist activity] shall be considered to be an alien with respect to whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3) (indirectly referencing 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)). This definition, not that expressed in legal commentary or by the courts of other nations, controls in this court. Therefore, the INA’s definition of “terrorist activity” not only does not violate the Protocol, but adheres to its specific non-refoulement exception. [11] Even if it did conflict, the administrative discretion in the INA, § 1182(a)(3)(B)(i)(II), might resolve the conflict. In 12780 KHAN v. HOLDER Stevic, the Supreme Court held that, to the extent there were differences between American statutory refugee law and the Protocol, it was acceptable that such differences be accommodated by administrative discretion. Stevic, 467 U.S. at 428 n. 22.