Opinion ID: 3026188
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “On Account of” an Enumerated Ground

Text: The IJ also denied Galdamez’s request for asylum on the ground that Galdamez “failed to establish that the injuries that 2 We cannot accept the government’s contention that the background materials submitted at the hearing support the IJ’s finding and denial of the asylum claim. First, the IJ did not address the relevant question: whether the government was “unwilling or unable” to control the gang members. Second, the materials referenced by the government describe the general negative attitude in Honduras towards “street children” and youths with tattoos, and do not describe with any detail efforts by the government to crack down on gangs. App. 249-52, 30910. The most relevant statement in these materials is that: “During the year, nearly half of all military personnel were assigned for most of the time to joint patrols with police to prevent and combat high levels of criminal and gang violence.” App. 310. This does not refute Galdamez’s credible testimony, which the IJ failed to address, that the police took no action in response to his complaints that he was repeatedly attacked by gang members. If anything, the evidence that gang violence is a serious problem in Honduras provides additional support for Galdamez’s claims. 11 he sustained in Honduras [were] on account of one of the five grounds delineated in the Act.” App. 20. Galdamez argued before the IJ that he is a member of the particular social group of young Honduran men who have been actively recruited by gangs and who have refused to join the gangs.3 He maintained that he was persecuted because he is a member of this group. However, the IJ never referred to the social group claim, but stated in conclusory fashion that the attacks on Galdamez had “no nexus to a protected ground.” App. 20. We conclude that the IJ’s finding that Galdamez was not persecuted “on account” of his membership in this group is not supported by substantial evidence. The government contends that we should deny the petition for review and affirm the denial of asylum on the ground that the group to which Galdamez belongs is not a “particular social group” within the meaning of the Immigration 3 Before the IJ, Galdamez identified the particular social group to which he belongs as “those who have been actively recruited by gangs but have refused to join because they oppose these gangs.” App. 185. In his brief, he identifies the group as “young Honduran men who have been actively recruited by gangs and who have been persecuted by these gangs for their refusal to accept membership.” Appellant’s Br. 25. In discussing the group, we omit the fact of the group’s later persecution from its definition to make clear that the group exists independently of its persecution. See Lukwago v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 157, 172 (3d Cir. 2003) (“[T]he ‘particular social group’ must have existed before the persecution began.”). 12 and Nationality Act. However, neither the IJ nor the BIA decided whether the group of which Galdamez claims to be a member – “young Honduran men who have been actively recruited by gangs and who have refused to join the gangs” – is a “particular social group” within the meaning of the Act. We decline to decide this question in the first instance. See Gonzales v. Thomas, 547 U.S. 183 (2006) (holding that court of appeals erred by holding in the first instance that members of a family are a “particular social group” without prior resolution of this issue by the BIA). The IJ denied Galdamez’s application for asylum based not on a finding that Galdamez did not belong to a “particular social group,” but rather based on her finding that there was no “nexus” between the injuries Galdamez endured and any protected ground. We conclude that this finding as to a lack of a link, or causation, is not supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole, and we will therefore vacate the order of removal and remand to the agency. “We will not disturb the IJ’s credibility determination and findings of fact if they are ‘supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.’ Although we generally defer to the IJ’s inferences, ‘deference is not due where findings and conclusions are based on inferences or presumptions that are not reasonably grounded in the record, viewed as a whole.’” Tarrawally v. Ashcroft, 338 F.3d 180, 184 (3d Cir. 2003) (internal citations omitted) (quoting Balasubramanrim v. INS, 143 F.3d 157, 161, 162 (3d Cir. 1998)). Here, the IJ’s finding that Galdamez was not attacked on account of his membership in the group of “young Honduran men who have been actively recruited by gangs and who have 13 refused to join the gangs” is inconsistent with her finding that the individuals who attacked Galdamez wanted him to join the gang and engage in gang activities, and the IJ’s specific recognition that Galdamez’s “refusal caused [him] to be attacked by these men.” App. 20. Indeed, there is no evidence in the record that the gang members attacked Galdamez for any reason other than he is a young man who has repeatedly refused to join the gang after being actively recruited to join. The gang members sought out Galdamez again and again, and targeted him for abuse based on his status as a member of this group. As the gang members chased him, Galdamez’s persecutors shouted “Don’t run. Don’t be afraid. Sooner or later you will join us.” App. 143-44. No reasonable factfinder could conclude that Galdamez was attacked for any reason other than his status as a young Honduran man who had been recruited to join the gang and refused to join. Thus, we hold that the IJ’s finding that there was no “nexus” between Galdamez’s injuries and any of the statutory grounds is not supported by substantial evidence. It is curious that the IJ failed to address Galdamez’s claim based on membership in a “particular social group,” given that the BIA’s decisions in this area, and the decision of at least one IJ, support Galdamez’s position. The group in which Galdamez claims membership shares the characteristics of other groups that the BIA has found to constitute a “particular social group.” The BIA has read the term “particular social group” to mean that the group must be defined by a common, immutable characteristic that the group members “either cannot change, or should not be required to change because it is fundamental to their individual identities or consciences.” Fatin v. INS, 12 F.3d 1233, 1240 (3d Cir. 1993) (quoting Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. 14 Dec. 211, 233 (BIA 1985)). In In re Fauziya Kasinga, 21 I. & N. Dec. 357 (BIA 1996), the BIA found that “young women who are members of the Tchamba-Kunsuntu Tribe of northern Togo who have not been subjected to female genital mutilation, as practiced by that tribe, and who oppose the practice” are a particular social group. Furthermore, at least one IJ has determined that young men who have been actively recruited by gangs and who have refused to join the gangs are members of a “particular social group.” In an unpublished decision, IJ Susan Castro concluded that the petitioner, D-V-, was eligible for asylum based on his persecution by gang members on account of his membership in the particular social group of those who “have been actively recruited by gangs, but who have refused to join because they oppose the gangs.” In re D-V-, slip op. at 10 (IJ Castro, Sept. 9, 2004), http://www.refugees.org/ uploadedFiles/Participate/National_Center/Resource_Library/ H.002.pdf. There was no appeal by the Attorney General from this ruling. We will remand so that the agency can address the issues that it did not reach as a result of denying Galdamez’s asylum claim for lack of evidence of a causal “nexus” between his injuries and membership in a particular social group: whether the group identified by Galdamez is a “particular social group” within the meaning of the Act, and whether the injuries that Galdamez suffered rise to the level of persecution. See INS v. Orlando Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16 (2002) (per curiam). 15