Haifa Saleh El Himri Musab El Himri v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

This case requires us to look carefully at the methods the government uses to select a country of removal. The petitioners in this case are stateless Palestinians who fled Kuwait, the country of their nativity, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991. They have been living in the United States since that time and now seek asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The government argues that Jordan, rather than Kuwait, should be used as the country of removal because the petitioners hold Jordanian travel documents. The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) accepted the government’s argument in part and performed the legal analysis as to both Kuwait and Jordan, finding that the petitioners are removable to Jordan. We disagree. We hold that 8 U.S.C. § 1231 does not authorize the designation of Jordan as a country of removal in this case. We further hold that the El Himris have established that they are members of a minority that is subject to economic persecution in Kuwait, entitling them to withholding of removal.

I. Background

A. Immigration from Kuwait

Haifa El Himri was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents who had fled to Kuwait as a result of the 1948…