Mousa

BACKGROUND

Mousa is a Chaldean Christian who lived in Iraq before fleeing to the United States in 2001. She testified at a hearing before the IJ held on April 8, 2003, that she and her family members suffered multiple incidents of abuse at the hands of Ba’ath party officials. Specifically, she testified that for years she had been harassed and pressured to join the Ba’ath party, and that she and her brother were imprisoned in a Ba’ath party compound for forty-seven days because they resisted joining the party. She also testified that she was raped during her imprisonment.

The IJ did not find Mousa credible. The IJ also held that, even if Mousa were credible, the fall of Saddam Hussein would change circumstances in Iraq to such an extent that Mousa would no longer have a well-founded fear of future persecution. The BIA adopted the IJ’s decision in its entirety, citing to Matter of Burbano, 20 I. & N. Dec. 872, 874 (BIA 1994). See Abebe v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 1037, 1040 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc) (explaining that “where the BIA cites its deci- sion in Burbano and does not express disagreement with any part of the IJ’s decision, the BIA adopts the IJ’s decision in its entirety”). The…