Lioudmila G. Krotova Anastasia Krotova Aleksandra Krotova v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

Lead Petitioner Lioudmila Krotova and her daughters, Anastasia Krotova and Aleksandra Krotova, who are all natives and citizens of Russia, petition for review of a final order of removal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). The BIA denied their applications for asylum and withholding of removal because it concluded that Petitioners had failed to demonstrate that the harassment, discrimination, and violence experienced by the lead Petitioner on account of her being Jewish rose to the level of persecution. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition for review.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Petitioners entered the United States in 1994. They first applied for asylum and withholding of removal in 1998. In 2002, they were charged with removability for overstaying their visas. They conceded removability and requested asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Convention Against Torture and, in the alternative, voluntary departure.

At the hearing before the immigration judge (“IJ”), the lead Petitioner was the only witness. She is a 54-year-old woman from the far eastern regions of Russia, specifically the Amurskaya, Primorskiy, and…