Fredy Orlando Ventura v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

The petitioner Fredy Orlando Ventura petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision dismissing his appeal of the denial of his asylum application. He contends the record compels a finding that he established past persecution on account of imputed political opinion, and the INS’s evidence of changed country conditions failed to rebut the presumption of future persecution. He seeks asylum and withholding of deportation. We grant Ventura’s petition for review, and hold that he is entitled to withholding of deportation. We also conclude Ventura is eligible for asylum, and remand his asylum application to the BIA for the Attorney General’s exercise of his discretion in granting or denying that application.

I.

Ventura is a 30-year-old native and citizen of Guatemala. He first entered the United States without inspection in July 1993. He left Guatemala after guerrillas spray-painted three “notes” on the wall of his house in 1992 and 1993, demanding that he join their forces and threatening harm to his family if he did not. In his testimony before the Immigration Judge (IJ), Ventura stated that all three notes were the same and that they read, “Fredy Ventura, you…