Opinion ID: 789266
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Grounds for Obtaining Asylum and Withholding of Removal

Text: 17 The Attorney General, in his or her discretion, may grant asylum to a refugee; i.e., a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his home country `because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.' Pilica v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 941, 950 (6th Cir.2004) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A)). Persecution requires more than a few isolated incidents of verbal harassment or intimidation, unaccompanied by any physical punishment, infliction of harm, or significant deprivation of liberty. Mikhailevitch v. INS, 146 F.3d 384, 390 (6th Cir.1998). A showing of well-founded fear of future persecution requires a demonstration by the alien: 18 (1) that he has a fear of persecution in his home country on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; (2) that there is a reasonable possibility of suffering such persecution if he were to return to that country; and (3) that he is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of such fear. 19 Pilica, 388 F.3d at 950. Applicants who establish that they have suffered past persecution are presumed to have a well-founded fear of future persecution, but this presumption may be rebutted by the government if it shows by a preponderance of the evidence that conditions in the country have changed so fundamentally that the applicant no longer has a well-founded fear of persecution. Id.; see Ouda v. INS, 324 F.3d 445, 452 (6th Cir.2003). 20 Whereas granting asylum to a refugee is a matter of discretion exercised by the Attorney General, [w]ithholding of removal is mandatory if an alien establishes that his `life or freedom would be threatened in the proposed country of removal on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.' Pilica, 388 F.3d at 951 (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(b)). An alien seeking withholding of removal must demonstrate that there is a clear probability that he will be subject to persecution if forced to return to the country of removal. Id. Because an alien must meet a higher burden in establishing a right to withholding of removal than in demonstrating asylum eligibility, an alien who fails to qualify for asylum necessarily does not qualify for withholding of removal. See id. at 955. 21