Surita

Petitioners Rina Kumari Surita (“Surita”) and her minor son, Afzal Yunas (‘Tunas”), ethnic Indian citizens of Fiji, petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA” or “Board”). The BIA affirmed an immigration judge’s denial of Surita’s and Yunas’s application for asylum and withholding of deportation, finding them statutorily ineligible for such relief from deportation under Sections 208(a) and 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 (a), 1253(h). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a), and we grant the petition and remand to the BIA for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Surita is a forty-one-year-old native and citizen of Fiji. Ethnically, she is of Indian descent and her religion is Hindu. Surita entered the United States on or about July 1, 1987 on a visitor’s visa with her two-year-old son, Yunas, and her parents. 1 On March 30, 1990, the INS issued an Order to Show Cause why Surita and Yunas should not be deported for overstaying their visas. Surita and Yunas conceded deportability but applied for asylum and withholding of deportation.

Surita submitted newspaper articles and the U.S. Department of…