Opinion ID: 738887
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Political Violence

Text: 9 The BIA, however, did not properly address Enriques' contention that deportation would cause him extreme hardship because it would expose him to political violence in the Philippines. Enriques offered extensive evidence to show that deportation would expose him to possible political violence, including testimony taking up more than five pages of trial transcript and documentary evidence taking up 76 pages of the record. He testified that the reason he left the Philippines was that the New People's Army (NPA), a well-known militant group, had been pressuring him to join them. He explained that he feared the NPA because people who resist them sometimes disappear, and added that he thought the NPA would still recognize him and would harm him. He repeated these claims on cross-examination, and introduced into the record 76 pages of reports from human rights watchdog groups, including Amnesty International, specifically describing the murderous tactics used by the NPA in recent years. 10 The BIA did not address Enriques' political violence claim. It made absolutely no reference to the NPA, to Enriques' testimony about his encounters with the NPA, or to Enriques' documentary evidence about the NPA. Indeed, the BIA made absolutely no reference to political violence, or any kind of violence, at all. This failure was an abuse of discretion. 11 The INS contends that under Kashefi-Zihagh v. INS, 791 F.2d 708, 710 (9th Cir.1986), the BIA need not consider Enriques' political violence claim. Kashefi-Zihagh, however, does not apply to the kind of political violence alleged in this case. Kashefi-Zihagh held that the BIA may decide to give consideration to persecution claims only under applications for asylum ... and not with applications for suspension of deportation. Id. at 710 (emphasis added). Enriques' claim of political violence, however, is not a persecution claim that could be considered under the asylum statute. To show persecution for the purpose of an asylum application, an alien must show that he is persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality ... social group, or political opinion, INA § 101(a)(42). Enriques offered no evidence to show that the NPA threatened him on account of his membership in any of these groups--his evidence showed only that the NPA had pressured him to join them. As the Supreme Court has made clear, such pressure cannot in itself constitute persecution for the purpose of the asylum statute. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481-84 (1992) (alien sought asylum from persecution by guerilla militia that had pressured him to join; held, pressure to join is not persecution for the purpose of the asylum statute because it is not on account of any of the statutory bases). Thus, the political violence that Enriques claims is not the sort of violence that the BIA may ignore under Kashefi-Zihagh. 12 Enriques' political violence claims are governed by a different line of cases. Since Kashefi-Zihagh was handed down in 1985, this Circuit has repeatedly held that the BIA must consider an alien's claim that deportation will expose him to political violence. In Gutierrez-Centeno, for example, where the alien alleged that she would be a target for political violence in El Salvador, we held that the BIA abused its discretion by failing to consider this hardship: the political situation in Nicaragua is also a factor that should have been considered. 99 F.3d at 1533-34. Likewise, in Tukhowinich, we held that the BIA abused its discretion because it did consider the political unrest in Thailand. 64 F.3d at 463. Similarly, in Watkins v. INS, 63 F.3d 844, 849 (9th Cir.1995), where the alien feared retributive violence by the Philippine government, we held that the BIA abused its discretion because it failed to consider in its decision the fact that the family fears retributive violence. These cases confirm that Kashefi-Zihagh is limited to claims of persecution that can be considered under the asylum statute, and that claims of political violence must otherwise be addressed in the BIA's hardship analysis. Under these cases, the BIA was required to address Enriques' contention that deportation would expose him to political violence in the Philippines. It did not do so. 2