Smolniakova

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. Smolniakova’s Experiences in Russia

Smolniakova, a 39-year-old woman, was born in Kalinin- grad, formerly Konigsberg, a city on the Baltic coast. She is the daughter of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father.

In her asylum application, Smolniakova recounted numer- ous instances of harassment and discrimination on account of her Jewish identity, including anti-Semitic profanities scrib- bled on the walls of her apartment entryway, human feces smeared on her mailbox, fires set in her mailbox, and repeated slashings of her front door. While instances of harassment and discrimination do not themselves rise to the level of persecu- tion for purposes of asylum, Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1016-17 (9th Cir. 2003), in Smolniakova’s case they were foreboding harbingers of things to come.

Before the IJ, Smolniakova testified that she lived in an environment that was not only inhospitable to Jews, but one in which practicing Judaism openly was very difficult. From 1988 to 1991, Smolniakova participated in a Jewish commu- nity organization that met secretly. Smolniakova testified that the Berenshteyns, close family friends of Smolniakova,…