Salaheddine Assaad Chatila, Ghamra Chatila-Homsi and Zuohair Chatila-Homsi v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Salaheddine Assaad Chatila and his family petition this court for review of the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s denial of an application for political asylum and withholding of deportation. We deny the petition.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

The petitioners in this case, the Chatilas, are a married couple and their eighteen year old son. In 1958, Mr. and Mrs. Chatila left their native Lebanon and settled in Venezuela. Mr. Chatila began his own business there and became active in Venezuela’s Democratic Action (Deko) Party. Mr. Chatila distributed propaganda and raised money for Deko, and regularly attended party meetings. In 1978, Mr. Chati la says that the building in which he had his business was destroyed in 1978. He does not say who destroyed it. He further maintains that a judge and the judge’s secretary entered his house and took away all his family’s personal property. Mr. Chatila tried to recover the property, but believed he had little chance of success because the judge’s secretary belonged to Venezuela’s Christian Party (Copei), Deko’s main political opposition. Mr. Chatila says that when it became clear that Copei would win the 1978 general election, he and…