Antipas Konou v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Petitioner Antipas J. Konou seeks review of an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reversing the Immigration Judge’s (IJ’s) finding that Konou was eligible for relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). This case arises from the fact that Konou fled the Marshall Islands in 1980 as a teenager after being sexually assaulted and beaten as a homeless, homosexual child. The authorities there allegedly did nothing to intervene. He came to California under a student visa and remained without documentation.

In 1999, Konou was convicted in a California state court of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and of battery with serious bodily injury following a fight with his then-boyfriend. The IJ found that this crime was particularly serious, rendering Konou ineligible for withholding of removal. But the IJ further found that Konou was more likely than not to be tortured for his homosexuality if forced to return to the Marshall Islands. The IJ therefore granted Konou CAT relief.

On review, the BIA reversed the IJ’s CAT determination because it concluded that the Marshall Islands has no enforced prohibition on homosexuality. But the BIA affirmed the…