Opinion ID: 3029790
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Perez’s rebuttal evidence

Text: As an initial matter, we consider the nature of the burden an applicant must carry once the government has produced 4 The quoted language comes from an INS document summarizing the Segura interview, not from Segura himself. 450 PEREZ-MARTIN v. ASHCROFT evidence to refute the applicant’s initial showing. There are two possibilities: either the applicant must reestablish the predicate facts of the initial application, or the applicant must simply negate the inference of the government’s showing, so that the evidence viewed as a whole is sufficient to support the applicant’s claim “as a matter of just and reasonable inference.” 8 U.S.C. § 1160(b)(3)(B)(iii). Though the statute does not specify what an applicant must show in order to rebut derogatory evidence submitted by the government, the statutory scheme appears to support the latter of the two possibilities we have identified. Where an applicant’s responsive evidence rebuts the government’s attempt to “negate[ ] the reasonableness of the inference to be drawn from the [applicant’s initial] evidence,” the applicant has restored a state of the evidence in which qualifying employment is shown by a preponderance of the evidence “as a matter of just and reasonable inference.” Id. This showing is all that is required to sustain the applicant’s initial burden, so it would frustrate the statute’s basic design, as well as the statute’s purpose of establishing a “broad amnesty program[ ] to allow existing undocumented aliens to emerge from the shadows,” McNary, 498 U.S. at 482-83, to require a higher showing by the applicant in rebuttal. Moreover, it would seem inefficient and unnecessary to force an applicant for SAW status to reestablish facts already submitted to the administrative adjudicator. Therefore we conclude that, in order to overcome derogatory evidence put forth by the government, an applicant need not reestablish the predicate facts of his claim; instead, the applicant is required to provide only enough evidence so that the evidence before the adjudicator, viewed as a whole, is “sufficient . . . to show [qualifying] employment as a matter of just and reasonable inference.” 8 U.S.C. § 1160(b)(3)(B)(iii). The final question is whether the LAU abused its discretion in finding that the Ramirez letter did not meet Perez’s burden to rebut the government’s showing. Ordinarily, a supporting letter from an applicant’s employer would easily suffice to rehabilitate an applicant’s claim to SAW status in the face of PEREZ-MARTIN v. ASHCROFT 451 derogatory evidence. The employer is the person in the best position to verify the claims of the applicant, who may have difficulty finding other corroboration given the transient nature of the work. Unless there are specific indicia that an employer’s letter or other communication is unreliable, refusal to accept corroboration by the applicant’s employer would usually be an abuse of discretion. [10] On the facts of this case, however, we cannot say that the LAU abused its discretion in refusing to credit the purported letter from Perez’s employer. The Ramirez letter is highly suspect. First, the text of the letter is unnaturally general, containing no indication beyond the heading that the letter actually relates to Perez himself. The entire body of the letter discusses facts about Ramirez, not Perez. Second, the letter never spells out, or even suggests, that Perez worked for Ramirez. Instead, the letter merely concludes with the cryptic statement, “I understand that the purpose of this letter is to verify this individual’s employment by me, in connection with an application for an immigrant visa.” Finally, as the LAU observed, the letter did not explain or mention in any way Ramirez’s previous affidavit that any employment documents bearing his name should be regarded as “null and void.” It is not unreasonable to surmise that an individual who has disavowed all employment verification forms bearing his name would, when writing a letter intended to corroborate a claim on a form among those he disavowed, at least make some mention of the tension among the various assertions made in his name. Considering all of these factors together, we conclude that the LAU did not abuse its discretion in suspecting the credibility of the letter and finding that it did not overcome the adverse evidence submitted by the government.5 5 The LAU also seems to have faulted the letter for failing to address the statements of Segura the Office Manager. Had this been the only basis for discounting the value of the letter, we would find an abuse of discretion, as there is no reason to have expected Ramirez to address a statement that is not actually inconsistent with Perez’s employment claim, or even to assume that Ramirez was aware of the Segura statement at all. However, the LAU’s faulty reliance on the Segura statement does not undermine its conclusion, as there was ample reason not to credit the Ramirez letter. 452 PEREZ-MARTIN v. ASHCROFT