Pitcherskaia

Alla K. Pitcherskaia petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision denying her application for asylum and withholding of deportation. We must decide whether Section 101(a)(42)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(A), requires an alien to prove that her persecutor harbored a subjective intent to harm or punish. We conclude that it does not. We have jurisdiction over this timely petition, 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a), and we grant the petition and remand to the board.

I.

Alla Pitcherskaia is a 35 year old native and citizen of Russia. She entered the United States as a visitor for pleasure on March 22, 1992, with authorization to remain for six months. On June 2, 1992, she applied for asylum on the basis that she feared persecution on account of her own and her father’s anti-Communist political opinions. After a complete interview, the Immigration and Naturalization Service Asylum Office found that she was credible and that she had suffered past persecution. However, it found that she failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution and denied her application. She was placed in deportation proceedings for overstaying her…