Opinion ID: 3017925
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rises to the level of persecution

Text: In addition to being “on account of” an enumerated ground, an asylum applicant must also show that the alleged conduct rose to the level of persecution. We define persecution as “threats to life, confinement, torture, and economic restrictions so severe that they constitute a threat to life or freedom.” Fatin v. INS, 12 F.3d 1233, 1240 (3d Cir. 1993). “[P]ersecution does not encompass all treatment that our society regards as unfair, unjust, or even unlawful or unconstitutional.” Id. In Li v. Attorney General, we agreed with the Seventh and Ninth Circuits that “[t]hreats standing alone . . . constitute persecution in only a small category of cases.” 400 F.3d 157, 164 (3d Cir. 2006) (quoting Lim v. INS, 224 F.3d 929, 936 (9th Cir. 2000)) 10 (internal quotations omitted). We held that “unfulfilled threats must be of a highly imminent and menacing nature in order to constitute persecution,” and concluded that the threats of physical mistreatment, detention, and sterilization alleged in Li were insufficient to meet this threshold. Id. at 164-65 (citing Boykov v. INS, 109 F.3d 413, 416-17 (7th Cir. 1997)). The anonymous threats of death and physical harm that Celaj received are similarly insufficient to rise to the level of past persecution. As in Boykov, Lim, and Li, neither Celaj nor any of Celaj’s family members were actually physically harmed. Id. Furthermore, as the BIA noted, the Celajs lived in Albania for more than a year after receiving the initial threats in 2000 before fleeing to the United States. Accordingly, evidence of the anonymous threats, standing alone, does not compel a finding of past persecution. We conclude that Celaj did not carry his burden of proving that his discharge from the police department or the robberies of his home were on account of his political opinion. Furthermore, while we find the anonymous threats were made on account of Celaj’s political opinion, these unfulfilled threats were not sufficiently imminent or menacing to rise to the level of persecution. Accordingly, the conclusion that Celaj did not suffer past persecution is supported by substantial evidence.