Opinion ID: 702517
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: legal standards for asylum and withholding of

Text: DEPORTATION 23 To establish eligibility for asylum, an alien must show that he or she is a refugee within the meaning of Sec. 101(a)(42)(A) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(42)(A), i.e., that he or she has experienced either past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of the alien's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Eligibility for asylum may be based on past persecution alone. Acewicz v. INS, 984 F.2d 1056, 1062 (9th Cir.1993). The test for well-founded fear includes both subjective and objective components. The former is satisfied if the fear is genuine. Bolanos-Hernandez v. INS, 767 F.2d 1277, 1283 n. 11 (9th Cir.1984). The subjective component may be satisfied by an applicant's credible testimony that he genuinely fears persecution. Acewicz, 984 F.2d at 1061. The objective component requires a showing by credible, direct, and specific evidence in the record, Diaz-Escobar v. INS, 782 F.2d 1488, 1492 (9th Cir.1986), that persecution is a reasonable possibility. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 440, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 1217-18, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987) (ten percent possibility sufficient). The objective component may be satisfied by the production of specific documentary evidence or by the credible and persuasive testimony of the applicant. Desir v. Ilchert, 840 F.2d 723, 726 (9th Cir.1988). If an alien is found to be a refugee, the Attorney General has discretion to grant the alien asylum relief. Id. at 428 n. 5; 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1158(a). 24 Under Sec. 243(h) of the INA, the Attorney General must withhold deportation of any alien to a country if the Attorney General determines that such alien's life or freedom would be threatened in such country on account of one of the enumerated factors. See 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1253(h); Arteaga v. INS, 836 F.2d 1227, 1228-29 (9th Cir.1988). A clear probability of persecution, id., or a more likely than not standard, INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 424, 104 S.Ct. 2489, 2497-98, 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984), is applicable to a withholding of deportation claim. This standard of proof is more stringent than the well-founded fear of persecution standard for asylum eligibility. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. at 427-32, 107 S.Ct. at 1211-13.