Opinion ID: 797143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Eligibility for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Relief

Text: 34 Asylum under the INA, withholding of removal under the INA, and withholding of removal under the CAT require applicants to satisfy distinct burdens of proof. A petitioner's burden to establish eligibility is lighter in the context of an asylum claim, but the power to grant such relief lies in the discretion of the Attorney General. See Jin Shui Qiu v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 140, 148 (2d Cir.2003). Withholding of removal, under either the INA or the CAT, requires a greater quantum of proof, though relief is mandatory once an applicant establishes eligibility. Id. 35 To establish eligibility for asylum, an applicant must demonstrate that he is a refugee within the meaning of the INA— i.e., that he has suffered past persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or that he has a well-founded fear of future persecution. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1); 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42); Islami v. Gonzales, 412 F.3d 391, 394 (2d Cir.2005). If a petitioner seeks asylum based on a showing of past persecution, that is only the first of two hurdles that an alien must meet in order to merit a favorable exercise of discretion. Islami, 412 F.3d at 396 n. 3 (internal quotation marks omitted). A showing of past persecution triggers a rebuttable presumption of future persecution, which the government can defeat, inter alia, by demonstrating a change in conditions in the country of origin that eliminates the danger. Id. On the other hand, where a well-founded fear of future persecution is demonstrated, an applicant for asylum need not additionally establish the existence of past persecution in order to be eligible for relief. Id. 36 Withholding of removal also requires an applicant to show that he or she falls within one of the categories designated for refugee status by the INA. But to obtain this non-discretionary form of relief, an applicant must clear the higher hurdle of showing that it is more likely than not that, were he or she to be deported, his life or freedom would be threatened on account of the characteristic rendering him or her a refugee. See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A); Islami, 412 F.3d at 395; Zhou Yun Zhang v. INS, 386 F.3d 66, 71 (2d Cir.2004). 37 Similarly, an individual seeking withholding of removal on the basis of a claim under the CAT must establish that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. Ramsameachire v. Ashcroft, 357 F.3d 169, 184 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(2)). Torture is defined, for purposes of a CAT withholding claim, as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person by persons acting in an official capacity. 8 C.F.R. § 208.18(a)(1); see also Ramsameachire, 357 F.3d at 184 (discussing same). 38