Kui Rong Ma v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Kui Rong Ma, a native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China (“China”), petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying his motion to reconsider or reopen its decision to deny him asylum. In denying the motion to reconsider, the BIA determined that only a spouse in a marriage “legally” registered with the Chinese government can establish past persecution and qualify as a refugee on the basis of his wife’s forced abortion or sterilization. The BIA’s decision in this regard limited In Re Matter of C-Y-Z, 21 I. & N. Dec. 915 (BIA 1997), which held that past persecution of one spouse can be established by coerced abortion or sterilization of the other spouse. Id. at 918 .

On appeal, Ma asserts that the BIA’s determination, that an individual in a marriage that cannot legally be registered in China is not a spouse, is contrary to the relatively recent Congressional amendment granting asylum status to victims of China’s oppressive population control poli cy. See INA § 101(a)(42)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(B). Ma contends that the marriage restriction is an integral part of the policy that Congress targeted and that in China a pregnancy occurring…