Jian Chen v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General
Opinion
Opinion
Noonan, J.
Jian Chen petitions for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the Board) denying his application for asylum and withholding of deportation. Reversing the Board, we grant Chen’s petition.
FACTS
Jian Chen was born July 14, 1979 in Fujian Province, China. He lived with his parents, his sister and his brother in a small village in that province. In 1995, at the age of sixteen, he moved from the village to Fuzhou City to work as an apprentice builder, earning approximately $200.00 per week.
Chen’s mother, Zhang Xi Mei, had meanwhile, between 1994 and 1996, been working as a “money dealer” for a private bank. The bank collapsed, and his mother owed at least $175,000. In 1997, a depositor secured a judgment against her for the loss of its deposit. When neither his mother nor his whole family was able to pay the judgment, the government threatened to imprison the entire family. His mother, father, brother and sister went into hiding. He escaped to the United States, going into debt to smugglers known as “snake-heads.”
PROCEEDINGS
In 1998, Chen applied for asylum and withholding of deportation. He testified to his fear of imprisonment by the People’s Republic of…