Jessie Aromin Deloso v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Jessie Aromin Deloso, a native and citizen of the Philippines, petitions for review of the denial of his request for asylum and withholding of deportation. Deloso also challenges the summary affirmance procedures of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) and has moved for a stay of voluntary departure pending judicial review.

Deloso unquestionably suffered persecution: within the space of two years, he was shot at by unknown gunmen, attacked by a group of men carrying knives and set upon on another occasion by a man armed with a pipe; he received death threats shortly after the assassination of another member of his political party who held local office; and, even after he relocated to another part of the Philippines, he was followed by a man he identified as the son of his father’s political enemy such that he did not feel safe staying in one location for very long. The question presented here, however, is whether any of these actions were on account of his political opinion.

Although the police never found out who was responsible for these acts, Deloso believes that Apolino Advincula — the head of a criminal organization and also a Communist party member and hit man — was…