Cruz-Diaz v. U.S. I.N.S.
| Decision Date | 29 May 1996 |
| Docket Number | CRUZ-DIA,No. 94-1865,P,94-1865 |
| Citation | 86 F.3d 330 |
| Parties | Carlos Enriqueetitioner, v. U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
ARGUED: Jeremy A. Litt, Third Year Law Student, International Human Rights Clinic, Washington College of Law, The American University, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Terri J. Lavi, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department Of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Loreto Geisse, Third Year Law Student, Richard Wilson, International Human Rights Clinic, Washington College of Law, The American University, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney General, Ellen Sue Shapiro, Richard M. Evans, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department Of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, WIDENER, Circuit Judge, and CHAPMAN, Senior Circuit Judge.
Petitioner Carlos Cruz-Diaz seeks review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming the decision of the immigration judge and denying him political asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158. We deny the petition.
Cruz-Diaz is a citizen of El Salvador who entered the United States without inspection on September 22, 1992, at the age of 15. He was intercepted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service near Brownsville, Texas, and subsequently released to the custody of his sister in Washington, D.C. Conceding deportability, Cruz-Diaz sought either asylum under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) or, in the alternative, to leave the United States voluntarily.
Cruz-Diaz testified at the deportation hearing that he feared for his life at the hands of both the guerrillas and the army should he return to El Salvador. He testified about his knowledge of the murder of his family members and others by both guerrillas and the army in El Salvador. He also told of his experiences of being wounded when fighting with the guerrillas, fleeing and hiding from the guerrillas, and finally hiding from army soldiers whom he believed to be seeking to arrest or kill him because of his association with the guerrillas. The immigration judge found Cruz-Diaz to be honest, straightforward, and credible, and to have a subjective fear of persecution. However, the immigration judge found that the evidence did not support a finding of actual or imputed political opinion and he found that Cruz-Diaz had not met the objective requirements for refugee status because he had not established past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of actual or imputed political opinion or any of the other grounds enumerated in the Act for which asylum may be granted: race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group. Essentially, the judge found that Cruz-Diaz had served with the guerillas and that the government was hunting for him on that account, which was not an act of persecution. The immigration judge denied asylum, but granted petitioner's request to depart the United States voluntarily, rather than under order of deportation. On appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) affirmed.
Cruz-Diaz sought review in this court pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a, asserting that the immigration judge and the Board erred by holding him to the same objective standard as an adult when it failed to find a well-founded fear of persecution, and by failing to find an imputed political opinion as a predicate for a well-founded fear of persecution.
To be eligible for refugee status and discretionary asylum under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, Cruz-Diaz must show a reasonable possibility of persecution or that a reasonable person in similar circumstances would fear persecution on account of his political beliefs or one of the other enumerated provisions of the statute. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987); M.A. v. INS, 899 F.2d 304,...
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