Opinion ID: 4546294
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Likely Merit of the Aliens’ Asylum Claims

Text: The government argues that the Rule relieves strain on an overburdened asylum system by screening out meritless asylum claims. In support of the Rule, the agencies wrote: By deterring meritless asylum claims and de- prioritizing the applications of individuals who could have sought protection in another country before reaching the United States, the Departments seek to ensure that those asylees who need relief most urgently are better able to obtain it. 42 EAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT V. BARR The interim rule would further this objective by restricting the claims of aliens who, while ostensibly fleeing persecution, chose not to seek protection at the earliest opportunity, . . . and instead wait for the more preferred destination of the United States, raises questions about the validity and urgency of the alien’s claim and may mean that the claim is less likely to be successful. 84 Fed. Reg. at 33,839. The Rule assumes, based solely on the fact that an alien has not applied for asylum in Mexico or Guatemala, that the alien’s asylum claim in the United States is “less likely to be successful.” Based on that assumption, the Rule categorically requires that an asylum officer “enter a negative credible fear determination with respect to the alien’s application for asylum.” 8 C.F.R. § 208.30(e)(5)(iii). That is, the Rule categorically requires an asylum officer to disbelieve aliens from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador who have not applied for asylum in Mexico or Guatemala and who claim to have a fear that would justify a grant of asylum. There is no evidence in the record to support the Rule’s assumption that such aliens are not credible. We have held in a long line of cases that the failure to apply for asylum in a country through which an alien has traveled has no bearing on the validity of an alien’s claim for asylum in the United States. For example, we wrote in Damaize-Job v. INS, 787 F.2d 1332, 1337 (9th Cir. 1986), that an asylum applicant’s “failure to apply for asylum in any of the countries through which he passed or in which he worked prior to his arrival in the United States does not provide a valid basis for questioning the validity of his persecution claims.” The fact that an alien might prefer to EAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT V. BARR 43 seek asylum in the United States rather than Mexico or Guatemala may be reflective of the relative desirability of asylum in these countries, but it has no bearing on the validity of the alien’s underlying asylum claim. See, e.g., GarciaRamos v. INS, 775 F.2d 1370, 1374–75 (9th Cir. 1985) (“We do not find it inconsistent with a claimed fear of persecution that a refugee, after he flees his homeland, goes to the country where he believes his opportunities will be best.”); see also Dai v. Sessions, 884 F.3d 858, 873 (9th Cir. 2018); Li v. Holder, 559 F.3d 1096, 1105 (9th Cir. 2009); Melkonian v. Ashcroft, 320 F.3d 1061, 1068 (9th Cir. 2003). The government argued in the district court that an alien’s failure to apply for asylum in a country through which the alien had passed can be a legitimate—indeed the sole—factor to be considered in determining whether the alien has a credible fear of persecution and is thus eligible to apply for asylum in the United States. The sole case relied upon by the government to support this argument was Matter of Pula, 19 I. & N. Dec. 467 (BIA 1987). See E. Bay I, 385 F. Supp. 3d at 946–47. The agencies had similarly relied on Matter of Pula in support of the Rule. See 84 Fed. Reg. at 33,839 n.8. The district court pointed out that Matter of Pula has been superseded by the firm-resettlement bar. See E. Bay I, 385 F. Supp. 3d at 946. In its briefing to us, the government has not relied on, or even cited, Matter of Pula. The government provides to us only a single record citation in support of the Rule’s categorical assumption that aliens subject to the Rule do not have a valid asylum claim if they have not previously applied for asylum in either Mexico or Guatemala. The citation is to a newspaper article reporting that Central American migrants traveling through Mexico stated that their ultimate destination was the United States. 44 EAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT V. BARR The article does nothing to support the Rule’s assumption. The article does not even remotely suggest that the aliens’ preference to apply for asylum in the United States rather than Mexico had any bearing on whether they had a credible fear of persecution that could support a valid claim to asylum. Evidence in the administrative record establishes that Mexico and Guatemala are dangerous places for aliens subject to the Rule. See also Innovation Law Lab v. Wolf, 951 F.3d 1073, 1090–93 (9th Cir. 2020). This evidence strongly suggests a reason other than invalidity of their underlying asylum claims why the aliens subject to the Rule would not apply for asylum in either of those countries. In the course of promulgating the Rule, the agencies did not discuss or even acknowledge this evidence. In sum, the agencies’ conclusion that an alien’s failure to apply for asylum in Guatemala or Mexico justifies an assumption that the alien does not have a valid asylum claim, and a categorical adverse credibility finding, ignores a long line of cases holding that aliens are not required to apply for asylum in countries they pass through on their way to the United States; ignores the fact that a preference for asylum in the United States rather than Mexico or Guatemala is irrelevant to the merits of an alien’s asylum claim; and ignores extensive evidence in the record documenting the dangerous conditions in Mexico and Guatemala that would lead aliens with valid asylum claims to pursue those claims in the United States rather than in those countries. In failing to consider an alternative (and very likely) explanation for aliens’ failure to apply for asylum in Mexico or Guatemala, the agencies “entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem.” State Farm, 463 U.S. EAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT V. BARR 45 at 43. Further, given the strength of this alternative explanation, as shown by evidence in the record, the agencies’ assumption “runs counter to the evidence before the agency.” Id.