Selamawit Zehatye v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

Petitioner Selamawit Zehatye challenges the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (“BIA”) denial of her application for asylum and withholding of removal based on her status as a Jehovah’s Witness. We affirm.

I.

A. Zehatye’s Arrival in the United States

Zehatye is a native and citizen of Eritrea, a country located in Northern Africa. After boarding a plane in Kenya and changing flights somewhere in Europe, she ultimately arrived at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia on July 13, 2002. She presented herself to immigration officials at the airport and sought asylum, explaining that she was a Jehovah’s Witness and feared being “harmed or killed” if forced to return home.

Immigration officials conducted a “credible fear interview,” where Zehatye stated that she was “in hiding” because her religion prevented her from “participating in politics.” She further explained that she left her country in 1999 and “went to Ethiopia for 2 years,” after which she “went to Kenya.” She also noted that she could not financially support herself while she lived in Kenya.

The former-immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) 1 denied Zehatye’s request for asylum and, after a brief…

dissenting:

I would grant the petition and remand for further consideration.

The Immigration Judge’s (IJ) decision, summarily affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), held that Zehatye did not establish a well-founded fear of future persecution sufficient for asylum eligibility. That conclusion was based on clear errors regarding some facts in the record and complete disregard of others. For these reasons, it should not stand.

In Tukhowinich v. INS, 64 F.3d 460, 463-64 (9th Cir.1995), we granted the petition for review where the IJ failed to address a number of factors, pertinent to the merits of a suspension of deportation determination, including evidence introduced by the petitioner as to the political conditions in her native country. In that case, we stated that “[w]hen important aspects of the individual claim are distorted or disregarded, denial of relief is arbitrary. Without prescribing any final result, we must remand such cases for proper consideration.” Id. at 464 (internal quotation marks omitted). Other circuits have taken the same approach. See Tan v. U.S. Attorney Gen., 446 F.3d 1369, 1375 (11th Cir.2006) (granting a petition for review where the IJ…

453 F.3d 1182 Selamawit ZEHATYE, Petitioner, v. Alberto R. GONZALES, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 04-73295. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 3, 2006. Filed July 13, 2006. Robert B. Jobe, Law Office of Robert B. Jobe, San Francisco, CA, for petitioner Zehatye. Peter K. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Mark Waters, Assistant Director, Lisa M. Arnold, Senior Litigation Counsel, Timothy B. Walthall, Trial Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent Alberto R. Gonzales. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Agency No. Abr-xzl-djl. Before MARSHA S. BERZON, JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, and CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges. CALLAHAN, Circuit Judge. 1 Petitioner Selamawit Zehatye challenges the Board of Immigration Appeals's ("BIA") denial of her application for asylum and withholding of removal based on her status as a Jehovah's Witness. We affirm. I. A. Zehatye's Arrival in the United States 2 Zehatye is a native and citizen of Eritrea, a country located in Northern Africa. After boarding a plane in Kenya and changing flights somewhere in Europe, she ultimately arrived at Dulles…