Thapa

MEMORANDUM ***

Thapa filed a timely appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) from a negative decision by an immigration judge. A single member of the BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision on two grounds: (1) Thapa “failed to adequately demonstrate that any fear she maintains of returning to Nepal is based upon one of the enumerated grounds in the Act;” and (2) Thapa did “not demonstrate[ ] that any fear she maintains is against the government of Nepal or an organization which the government is unable or unwilling to control.” The per curiam decision is silent on the IJ’s credibility findings. Thapa’s appeal sufficiently challenges the BIA’s decision.

Thapa testified that she opposed the Maoists and that this fact was known to them. Her testimony shows that her persecution arose from her political opinion. Prior to the school closings, Thapa publicly opposed the Maoists through her support for the Nepalese Congress Party and indirectly received threats. After Thapa’s principal named her as opposing the school closing sought by the Maoists, the number of threats against her increased. The record is sufficient to compel the conclusion that there was a nexus between the Maoists’…