Opinion ID: 2966265
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Party Certificate

Text: Tellingly, the BIA affirmed solely on the IJ’s rationale that the Party certificate’s declaration that Cuko stopped paying party dues in November 2000 was inconsistent with his testimony that he remained “active” in party activities thereafter. Its silence as to the IJ’s two other sub-rationales based on the Party certificate speaks volumes. The Cuko explanation for stopping his payment of dues – that he unsuccessfully contemplated a relocation to Tirana to avoid increased political persecution during the upcoming election season – is not inherently implausible. The record also contains no affirmative evidence tending to show Cuko’s explanation was a mere fabrication. By the same token, the IJ’s assertion that one reasonably should expect that this type of Party certificate would contain a detailed narrative of Cuko’s history with the Party, and especially of the specific acts of political persecution allegedly inflicted on him in early 2001, is rank speculation. The terse certificate purported only to be a ministerial verification of Cuko’s official enrollment dates in the party. It indicated that it was issued at Cuko’s request ( viz. , to verify that he was affiliated with the Party), which means that it likely would confine its subject matter to the specific and narrow question that Cuko’s application posed. Again, the record contains no evidence that these certificates typically would contain an exhaustive or individualized history of the applicant’s activities with the party. Accordingly, the BIA made nary a mention of these dubious IJ findings.