Opinion ID: 202978
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Disfavored Group Analysis

Text: Kho's argument is that the agency erred as a matter of law by failing to apply the Ninth Circuit's disfavored group analysis. See, e.g., Sael v. Ashcroft, 386 F.3d 922, 925 (9th Cir.2004); Singh v. INS, 94 F.3d 1353, 1359 (9th Cir.1996); Kotasz v. INS, 31 F.3d 847, 853-54 (9th Cir.1994). That court has crafted a judicially created alternative to the statutory and regulatory scheme. Sael describes its disfavored group analysis as an alternative to establishing a pattern or practice of persecution. 386 F.3d at 925. Under the Ninth Circuit's disfavored group rule, asylum applicants who have not shown a pattern or practice of persecution under section 208.16(b)(2) but have shown membership in a group that is disfavored are subject to a lower burden of showing an individualized risk of threats to their lives and freedom. Sael, 386 F.3d at 925. A group may be deemed disfavored on the basis of evidence of mistreatment that is less pervasive and less severe than that required to establish a pattern or practice of persecution. Kotasz, 31 F.3d at 853. The required amount of individualized evidence of persecution is, in that court's view, lower provided the individual shows membership in a group that is disfavored. Hoxha v. Ashcroft, 319 F.3d 1179, 1182-83 (9th Cir.2003). The regulations establish a threshold for relieving the need for an individualized showing; the disfavored group analysis creates a different threshold, and we reject it. The regulations already contemplate the effect of group membership on an individual's circumstances by enumerating the five statutory categories of withholding eligibility. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A); 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(b). Beyond that, the regulations do not require the agency to credit automatically discrimination experienced by a group toward an individual's case in removal proceedings. We will not impose such a requirement on the agency. While Congress has delegated the authority to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish regulations in this area, see 8 U.S.C. § 1103, it has made no such delegation to the courts. The disfavored group analysis works a subtle alteration of the usual standards of review. We are bound by the standards Congress sets. We note that in evaluating each claim on its facts, it may be that evidence short of a pattern or practice will enhance an individualized showing of likelihood of a future threat to an applicant's life or freedom. That is a different matter. In rejecting the disfavored group standard, we join other circuit courts that have rejected the use of a lower standard for individualized fear absent a pattern or practice of persecution and rejected the establishment of a disfavored group category. See Kaharudin v. Gonzales, 500 F.3d 619, 624-25 (7th Cir.2007); Lie v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 530, 538 n. 4 (3d Cir. 2005); see also Wijaya v. Gonzales, 227 Fed.Appx. 35, 38 n. 1 (2d Cir.2007) (summary order); Firmansjah v. Gonzales, 424 F.3d 598, 607 n. 6 (7th Cir.2005). But see Chen v. INS, 195 F.3d 198, 203-04 (4th Cir.1999).