Opinion ID: 3065509
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disfavored Group Analysis in the Withholding

Text: Context [12] As we recognized in Wakkary, disfavored group analysis is an evidentiary concept that applies when a petitioner attempts to show that she will be individually singled out for persecution.5 Id. at 1063. Evidence of both individual and group targeting are relevant to demonstrate the likelihood that a particular individual will be persecuted. Id. at 1062-63. Therefore, “[t]he more evidence of group targeting an . . . applicant proffers, the less evidence of individually specific evidence [s]he needs to [satisfy her ultimate burden of proof].” Id. at 1064. Nevertheless, a petitioner’s membership in a disfavored group is not sufficient by itself to meet her ultimate burden of proof; “some evidence of individualized risk is necessary for the petitioner to succeed.” Id. at 1065. [13] Here, the BIA failed to analyze petitioners’ withholding claim according to disfavored group analysis. Because the 5 Two avenues are available for establishing eligibility for withholding of removal: (1) past persecution, which creates a presumption of eligibility for withholding of removal; and (2) a clear probability of future persecution. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(b); see also Al-Harbi v. INS, 242 F.3d 882, 888-89 (9th Cir. 2001) (discussing the “clear probability standard” for withholding of removal). A clear probability of future persecution may be established in one of two ways. First, the applicant may demonstrate that it is more likely than not that she will be singled out individually for persecution on account of a protected ground. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(2). Second, in the absence of any individualized targeting, the applicant may demonstrate that she is a member of a group that is subject to a “pattern or practice of persecution” in her home country. Wakkary, 558 F.3d at 1060. Disfavored group analysis is triggered only when a petitioner attempts to show that she will more likely than not be singled out individually for persecution on account of a protected ground. That is the precise situation in this case. Here, petitioners concede that they did not experience past persecution and do not argue that Christians in Indonesia are subject to a pattern or practice of persecution. Rather, petitioners rely on the “individualized risk of persecution” avenue to establish eligibility for withholding. 3750 TAMPUBOLON v. HOLDER record compels the conclusion that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group and petitioners are Christians, we must remand to the BIA for it to determine whether the combination of disfavored group evidence and evidence of individualized risk is sufficient to establish a clear probability that petitioners will be persecuted if removed to Indonesia.6 Wakkary, 558 F.3d at 1067.