Opinion ID: 1035267
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The government has failed or refused to

Text: protect gay men from persecution. At the hearing, the government agreed that Vitug was credible. The government did not present any evidence to contradict Vitug’s testimony or documentary evidence. However, it did note that Vitug’s documentary evidence included accounts of gay and lesbian activism in the Philippines and a recently passed Quezon city ordinance prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. The IJ held that Vitug was persecuted on account of his membership in the social group of homosexual Filipino men.1 The IJ noted that the government did not prove that country conditions had improved or that Vitug could internally relocate within the Philippines to avoid future persecution. The IJ concluded that Vitug would more likely than not suffer further persecution if he was removed to the Philippines, and therefore granted Vitug withholding of removal. The IJ also concluded that it was more likely than not that Vitug would be tortured in the Philippines, and therefore granted CAT 1 The IJ found that Vitug did not suffer past persecution on account of his membership in the group of HIV-positive individuals. 8 VITUG V. HOLDER relief. Finally, the IJ denied Vitug’s request for asylum because of a procedural bar. The government appealed. On November 6, 2007, the BIA sustained DHS’s appeal, affirming the IJ’s denial of asylum but vacating the IJ’s grant of withholding of removal and CAT relief. In reaching its decision, the BIA did not expressly find any of the IJ’s factual findings to be clearly erroneous. Instead, the BIA found that Vitug “failed to meet his burden of proof” for four major reasons: (1) Vitug failed to prove that the attacks against him “r[o]se to the level of past persecution”; (2) the rape was a “crime of opportunity” and was not based on account of a protected ground; (3) “the record does not support the conclusion that the government would be unable or unwilling to protect [Vitug],” because Vitug returned to the Philippines with “only limited additional problems,” the attacks against him were illegal, and he did not report the attacks; and (4) there was “no evidence in the record that [Vitug] would face torture were he to be returned to the Philippines.” Vitug moved for reconsideration, which the BIA denied because Vitug’s motion was one day late. The motion was late due to a snowstorm and the grounding of FedEx’s planes. On February 26, 2008, the BIA issued an amended order to correct a misstatement in the original November 6, 2007 order. Vitug timely moved for reconsideration of the amended order, arguing that the BIA failed to give due deference to the IJ’s factfinding. On April 22, 2008, the BIA denied Vitug’s motion for reconsideration of the amended order. In its denial, the BIA defended its original decision, arguing that it had properly VITUG V. HOLDER 9 applied the clear error standard of review: “[W]e did not determine that the Immigration Judge’s findings of facts were clearly erroneous, including the finding that he was credible. Therefore, we accepted the respondent’s testimony, and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from it, as true.” Yet, later in the order, the BIA contradicted itself by stating that one of the IJ’s findings —that the Philippine government “failed or refuse[d] to protect homosexuals” from abuse—was “clearly erroneous.” The BIA concluded that: (1) Vitug failed to establish that the government was unwilling or unable to protect him in light of the documentary evidence that showed no official discrimination, Vitug’s testimony that he was never “harmed” by the police, and Vitug’s failure to report any of his attacks; (2) on the record before it, the facts were insufficient for Vitug to carry his burden of proving past persecution; and (3) on the record before it, the facts were insufficient for Vitug to prove that it was more likely than not he would be persecuted if he returned to the Philippines.