Opinion ID: 171391
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: July 16, 2004 IJ Hearing

Text: At the next significant hearing, on July 16, 2004, Mr. Ribas appeared with an attorney. His attorney stated he was abandoning his former application and wanted to submit a new asylum application. Mr. Ribas signed and submitted a new asylum application form during the hearing. Mr. Ribas's new asylum application indicated he sought asylum based on religion, membership in a particular social group, and the Convention Against Torture (CAT). In an accompanying brief, he explained that he converted to Evangelical Christian (Pentecostal) and this religion is not accepted by his family. His family is very powerful in Angola and have threatened him. Id. at 510. He further stated that [h]is family are members of the government and those in control of the country having the capability of punishing Mr. Ribas and they have the inclination to punish him. Id. at 512. He explained away his previous asylum application, stating that it was based on information from his cousin who told him his family had been arrested because of his father's undercover activities as an agent for UNITA. His cousin had been mistaken. Mr. Ribas did not withdraw his application immediately after he learned that this information was false, he said, because he had already been given TPS. His new claim was based on an incident in which [h]is mother entered the United States without his knowledge in September 2002 and confronted him. She kept him secluded and restricted him for several days, approximately one week, in an apartment with several Angolan men there to try to intimidate him into giving up his religion. His family stopped all financial support from him and if he returns to Angola he will be severely persecuted for his religious beliefs. Id. at 514. During the time he believed that his parents had been arrested by the Angolan government, Mr. Ribas admitted that he never asked his church to conduct a prayer vigil for them. Although such vigils were conducted at the church, he stated he did not get the church involved because he believed his parents' plight was a personal matter. Id. at 489. He did not call his parents prior to August 2002 when he heard that they were all right, because he was scared. In closing, the government attorney called his story one of the more incredible stories I've heard in an asylum case and urged the IJ to make a finding that the application was frivolous. Id. at 497-98.