Court Opinion

ID: 9628762
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:31:30.679551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:52.421291
License: Public Domain

PREGERSON, Circuit Judge,
Dissenting:
It was wrong for Martinez initially to tell a false tale about his persecution in Guatemala to immigration authorities. But it is not hard to see why a gay man who suffered persecution on account of his sexual orientation would want to hide that fact from immigration authorities. When Martinez filed his asylum application in 1992, the INS had not yet recognized that persecution on account of sexual orientation provided a valid basis for an asylum claim. See Karouni v. Gonzales, 399 F.3d 1163, 1171 (9th Cir.2005). Indeed, before the Immigration Act of 1990, homosexuality was a ground on which to exclude any immigrant who wished to enter this country. See Pub. Law 101-649 § 601, 104 Stat. 4978, 5067 (1990); see also House Rep. No. 723(1), 101st Cong., 2d Sess., p. 56, reprinted in 1990 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News 6710, 6736. In this context, it is easy to understand how Martinez might have felt compelled to tailor his story to avoid being returned to Guatemala, where he suffered persecution on account of his sexual orientation.
In reviewing an IJ’s adverse credibility finding regarding an asylum petitioner, our court in Turcios v. INS stated: “Untrue statements by themselves are not reason for refusal of refugee status[,] and ... *1066it is the examiner’s responsibility to evaluate [the petitioner’s false] statements in the light of all the circumstances of the case.” Turcios v. INS, 821 F.2d 1396, 1400 (9th Cir.1987) (finding that the lies petitioner told to immigration authorities actually supported petitioner’s fear of deportation). If Martinez had filed his asylum application in 1992 alleging persecution on account of his sexual orientation, he would likely have been deported. Instead, Martinez initially alleged political persecution, a valid basis for an asylum claim in 1992, because he greatly feared being returned to Guatemala. It was not until April 1996 that the INS “formally adopted the ‘position ... that homosexuals do constitute a particular social group.’ ” Karouni, 399 F.3d at 1171 (quoting a Memorandum from David A. Martin, INS General Counsel, to All Regional and District Counsel (Apr. 4, 1996)). On April 23, 1996, nineteen days after the INS recognized that persecution based on sexual orientation was a valid ground for an asylum claim, Martinez explained his true reasons for seeking asylum in the United States in a detailed declaration.
Accordingly, I disagree with the BIA’s finding that the IJ in the case before us “articulated cogent reasons for his adverse credibility finding.” As in Turcios, the IJ’s explanation that Martinez was not credible because initially he made false statements to immigration officials was insufficient. In fact, Martinez’s statements may have “supported] his claim of fear of persecution,” Turcios, 821 F.2d at 1401, because Martinez misrepresented the truth solely to avoid persecution in Guatemala based on his sexual orientation, in response to U.S. immigration policies forbidding such asylum claims at the time he made the statements.
Furthermore, nowhere does Martinez testify that he feared “additional persecution [in the United States] if the United States government learned of his sexual orientation,” as the BIA and Majority contend. Instead, Martinez’s fear was premised on his belief that he would be further persecuted if the United States government were to deport him to Guatemala. The Majority states that the IJ’s reasons for his adverse credibility finding did “bear a legitimate nexus” to the IJ’s decision. I disagree. That Martinez was “freely associating with other gays” in Los Angeles has no bearing on or nexus to the IJ’s decision that Martinez was not credible, nor does it have any bearing on or nexus to the suffering Martinez feared he would experience were he deported to Guatemala. Therefore the IJ’s negative credibility finding — affirmed by the BIA— doesn’t hold water.
Because the IJ did not articulate cogent reasons for his adverse credibility finding, and because the IJ did not provide a legitimate nexus between the reasons for his adverse credibility finding and his ultimate decision, Martinez’s petition should not have been denied. Accordingly, I dissent.