Court Opinion

ID: 9492132
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:32:52.491351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:07.681373
License: Public Domain

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge,
with whom KLEINFELD, Circuit Judge, joins, dissenting:
I agree with the majority that the central question in this case is: “Does the evidence Ms. Borja presented compel the conclusion that the NPA subjected her to persecution on account of her political opinion under the Immigration and Nationality Act[?]” (emphasis added). Notwithstanding its disclaimers, however, the majority’s analysis wholly distorts the “compelled” test and, instead, effectively applies “de novo” review of the BIA’s decision, contrary to Supreme Court guidance. For this reason, I must respectfully dissent.
Two preliminary observations control. First, an appellate court reviews decisions of the BIA under a highly deferential standard; we may reverse the BIA only if the evidence in the record compels a contrary result. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 482, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). Second, the Supreme Court’s decision in Elias-Zacarias makes clear that a petitioner must provide evidence, either direct or circumstantial, of her persecutors’ motives. As the Court noted:
[The petitioner] objects that he cannot be expected to provide direct proof of his persecutors’ motives. We do not require that. But since the statute makes motive critical, he must provide some evidence, direct or circumstantial.
Id. at 483, 112 S.Ct. 812 (emphasis added).
This case turns on the NPA’s motives in persecuting Borja. Was the NPA motivated by Borja’s politics or her money? Under Elias-Zacarias, Borja must present evidence that the NPA was motivated to persecute her, at least in part, because of her political opinion. See id. at 483-84, 112 S.Ct. 812. The BIA denied asylum to Borja because it concluded that the NPA’s “imposition of ‘revolutionary taxes’ (enforced by threats of harm and enforced hy actual harm) was extortion ..., not [related] to the respondent’s political opinion, but rather to her ability to pay.” In other words, the NPA would have approached her, extorted money from her, and assaulted her regardless of her political opinions.
The BIA based its conclusion that the NPA persecuted Borja to get her money, not on account of political opinion, on several well-founded observations. First, Borja is from a family of means and was thus in a position to supply the NPA with needed resources. Second, the NPA approached Borja only at her parents’ place of business; Borja provided no. evidence that the NPA sought her at home or at the hospital at which she worked for fifteen *740years before leaving the Philippines. Third, Borja failed to demonstrate that she was treated any differently from others who were similarly situated economically. And fourth, as the country profile submitted by the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy reveals:
A large portion of Philippine asylum applicants allege that the NPA threatens them with death or other harm for refusing to support that organization financially. In most instances, the NPA is not interested in the political opinion of its intended victim but in the victim’s wealth. '
U.S. Dep’t of State, The Philippines: Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions 4 (1995) (emphasis added).
In contrast, the only evidence that the majority finds in support of its conclusion that the NPA was motivated to persecute Borja because of her political opinion is one threatening gesture against Borja that followed on the heels of Borja’s statement of opposition to the NPA.1 While Borja’s statement obviously angered the two NPA members, they left the store as soon as she agreed to pay the requested so-called “revolutionary tax.” Furthermore, over the following months, as long as Borja paid the NPA the money it demanded, the NPA did not harm her. When the NPA finally did harm Borja, the evidence is undisputed that it was on account of her refusal to pay the “double tax.”2 There is absolutely no evidence that the NPA cut Borja’s arm because of her political hostility toward them. Thus, it appears that the NPA was concerned only with “tax” collection. Certainly, a reasonable fact finder would not be compelled to decide otherwise.3
I simply am not persuaded that Borja’s evidence is so convincing that we are “compelled” to conclude that her persecution was on account of political opinion. See Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 483-84, 112 S.Ct. 812. There is no evidence that the NPA singled Borja out for extortion because of her political opposition to its cause.4 Indeed, in all likelihood, the NPA knew nothing of Borja’s political opinions, but approached Borja because it knew she was-wealthy.5 Moreover, Borja mentioned her political opinion only once, several months prior to the assault; the NPA actually harmed Borja only once, when Borja refused to make payment. Based on this record, the BIA’s conclusion that the NPA was not motivated by Borja’s *741political opinion is supported by substantial evidence.6
Sweeping aside the substantial evidence that supports the BIA’s conclusion, the majority places emphasis on Borja’s professed opposition to the NPA. As the Sixth Circuit has recognized, under Elias-Zaca-rias, it is of little concern whether the victim acts on the basis of political opinion: “[T]he motives of the asylum seeker are relevant only to the extent that they illuminate the motives of the alleged persecutors.” Adhiyappa v. INS, 58 F.3d 261, 267 (6th Cir.1995). While I do not dispute that Borja professed her opposition to the NPA, the issue is whether her statements illuminate the NPA’s motives. Given the substantial evidence that supports the BIA’s conclusion that those motives were non-political, the illumination her statements provide is negligible.
Moreover, the majority ignores -the State Department’s finding that “[i]n most instances, the NPA is not interested in the political opinion of its intended victim but in the victim’s wealth.” This court has held that State Department reports are “ ‘the most appropriate and perhaps the best resource’ for ‘information on political situations in foreign nations.’ ” Kazlauskas v. INS, 46 F.3d 902, 906 (9th Cir.1995) (quoting Rojas v. INS, 937 F.2d 186, 190 n. 1 (5th Cir.1991)). While not dispositive, the report provides additional support for the BIA’s conclusion that Borja’s persecution was non-political.7
While the majority claims that it has “taken care ... not to second-guess the BIA,” I regret that is exactly what it has done. The BIA’s decision is correct. The NPA, in need of financial support, by threats and force, made one wealthy Filipino after another give money to its cause. Borja, as a wealthy woman, was one of the NPA’s targets. When Borja refused to pay, the NPA slashed her arm. Borja’s story is disturbing and sad, as the majority eloquently and dramatically describes, but it does not establish persecution on account of political opinion. Borja was a victim of extortion and thievery, not political persecution. Borja’s evidence that the NPA was motivated by her political opinion is weak at best; it is certainly not “so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could fail to find” in her favor. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 483-84, 112 S.Ct. 812.
I would deny the petition for review and affirm the decision of the BIA in this case.

. The majority claims that this action by the NPA members proves that they were motivated to persecute Borja based on her political opinion. However, it is just as reasonable to infer that this action was motivated by a desire to scare Borja into paying over money.

. This case is distinguishable from Vera-Valera v. INS, 147 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir.1998), because, in that case, the guerillas told the asylum seeker that they wished to "cut off [his] ideas” which they accurately characterized as those of a “capitalist bureaucrat.” It is also distinguishable from Gonzales-Neyra v. INS, 122 F.3d 1293, 1294 (9th Cir.1997), because in that case, the persecution changed in character after the guerillas learned of the asylum seeker's political opinion, from ordinary criminal extortion, to a threat to destroy his video arcade with him inside it because the games "distracted the youth, made them stupid, and 'diverted their attention from national problems.’ ”

. We must keep in mind that we cannot "reverse the BIA 'simply because we disagree with its evaluation of the facts, but only if we conclude that the BIA's evaluation of the facts is not supported by substantial evidence.' ” Aruta v. INS, 80 F.3d 1389, 1393 (9th Cir.1996) (quoting DeValle v. INS, 901 F.2d 787, 790 (9th Cir.1990) (quoting Diaz-Escobar v. INS, 782 F.2d 1488, 1493 (9th Cir.1986))); see also Mikhailevitch v. INS, 146 F.3d 384, 388 (6th Cir.1998) ("[W]e may not reverse the Board's determination simply because we would have decided the matter differently.”).

. Borja testified that she was never involved in any political activities.

. This conclusion is supported by Borja's testimony. She testified that the NPA sought financial assistance from other businesses located in the same area as her parents' business. And she suspected that the NPA sought her out because of her parents’ successful business, as well as her family's high standard of living.

. Frankly, I am greatly concerned about the consequences of the majority opinion. From now on every victim of extortion in the Philippines (and according to the State Department country profile, there may be many) need only allege that when the NPA approached them for money, they expressed support for the government. Any negative reaction by the NPA necessarily would mean that all subsequent conduct of the NPA was motivated by the petitioner’s political opinion. Whether the NPA cared one iota about that opinion would be irrelevant, and whether they were motivated by that opinion would be inconsequential, despite the Supreme Court's holding otherwise.

. The majority states that persecution can emanate from sections of the population that the government of that country is either unable or unwilling to control. See Korablina v. INS, 158 F.3d 1038, 1044 (9th Cir.1998). While I agree with this statement, Borja presented no evidence that the Philippine government is unable or unwilling to control the NPA. Borja testified that she never reported any of the incidents with the NPA to the Philippine authorities.