Kalouma

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

John Kalouma entered the United States in March 2001, was intercepted by the Border Patrol, identified himself as Sudanese, and was promptly charged with inadmissibility. At a hearing before the IJ in 2001, Kalouma admitted the charge and applied for relief. On April 24, 2002, Kalouma’s case was presented to the IJ, who issued an oral decision, denying it. Kalouma appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board, on October 23, 2003, adopted the IJ’s decision, which thus became central to Kalouma’s timely petition to us.

At the hearing, Kalouma testified that he was a native of Sudan, a Nuer, born in 1972 in Khartoum, to a family from Shambe in southern Sudan, the son of William and Adasha Kalouma. Kalouma identified himself as a Christian and, more specifically, as a Catholic. Kalouma went on to set out 10748 KALOUMA v. GONZALES his experiences of persecution by Muslims or Arabs — he used the terms interchangeably.

After hearing Kalouma on direct and on cross-examination by the Government and by himself, the IJ gave his oral deci- sion. In his first sentence, he referred to Kalouma as “a person of unknown identity.” Then, after…