Opinion ID: 3021770
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The BIA Appeal: In a March 19, 2002 opinion the

Text: BIA rejected the IJ’s credibility determination. It held that the fact that the arrest warrant may have been fraudulent did not provide a basis for a finding that Filja’s testimony was incredible, because the consul’s FAX was submitted after the close of the hearing; it had not been admitted into evidence; and there was no indication that the IJ provided Filja with an opportunity to rebut it.2 Further, the BIA found the IJ’s comments about Filja’s motivation for coming to the United States were speculative in nature and did not support a finding of incredibility. Consequently, it did not affirm the IJ’s adverse credibility finding. Nevertheless, the BIA concluded that Filja’s experiences in Albania did not rise to the level of persecution. Addressing Filja’s assertion that he was being framed by his former employer by a charge of theft of $200,000, the BIA found that: 2 It later developed that the arrest warrant was not genuine, and that representatives of the newspaper had delivered it to Filja’s father, apparently in an attempt to induce Filja to return to Albania. When it developed that the arrest warrant was bogus, Filja no longer had reason to believe that both the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party were hostile to him. In fact, as will be described subsequently, officials of the Democratic Party later provided assistance to Filja and his wife and son. 6 even assuming the validity of [the arrest warrant] which the respondent himself placed into evidence, on its face the document does not squarely corroborate his claim of being accused of misappropriating or stealing $200,000 in company funds. To the extent the respondent may be subject to punishment for not returning to work at his former place of employment, resulting in financial loss to the company, it has not been persuasively established that any such action taken against him would be imposed on account of a ground protected by the Immigration and Nationality Act. The BIA determined that the Filjas had failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear or clear probability of persecution in Albania based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, actual or imputed. It dismissed the appeal.