Opinion ID: 2976568
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Asylum and Withholding of Removal Generally

Text: The Attorney General has discretion to grant asylum to a “refugee,” Perkovic v. I.N.S., 33 F.3d 615, 620 (6th Cir. 1994), which is defined as an alien who “is unable or unwilling to return to” 6 their home country “because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). The alien bears the burden of establishing that they are a refugee “either because he has suffered actual past persecution or because he has a well-founded fear of future persecution.” Koliada v. I.N.S., 259 F.3d 482, 487 (6th Cir. 2001) (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(a)-(b) (2001)). An alien who establishes that he suffered from past persecution on a protected ground is “presumed to have a well-founded fear of persecution.” Id. To rebut this presumption, the government must demonstrate either that changed conditions in the alien’s home nation obviate the threat of future persecution, or that it would be reasonable to expect the alien to relocate to another part of his home nation where the threat of future persecution does not exist. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(1)(i). An alien qualifies for withholding of removal, and therefore cannot be removed to their home county, if “the alien’s life or freedom would be threatened in that country because of the alien’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). To qualify for such relief, however, the alien must demonstrate that it is “more likely than not” that he would be subject to persecution. I.N.S. v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 424 (1984). Nevertheless, an alien who can demonstrate that he suffered past persecution on a protected ground enjoys the same presumption in the withholding of removal context as he does in the asylum context. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)(1)(i). The IJ determined that, although Petitioner was detained, tortured, and hunted within his own country, such treatment did not constitute past persecution. Accordingly, Petitioner was not afforded a presumption of eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. For the reasons that follow, this decision was incorrect as a matter of law. 7