Matter of Pierre
| Decision Date | 16 September 1975 |
| Docket Number | A-19337984,Interim Decision Number 2433 |
| Citation | 15 I&N Dec. 461 |
| Parties | MATTER OF PIERRE In Deportation Proceedings |
| Court | U.S. DOJ Board of Immigration Appeals |
Respondent, a native and citizen of Haiti, is an applicant for the withholding of deportation under section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. She testified that prior to her departure from Haiti her husband threatened her life and attempted to kill her. She alleges that, if returned to Haiti, she would be persecuted by her husband, which the Government of Haiti would do nothing to restrain because of her husband's high position (a deputy in the Haitian Government), and that she would be effectively foreclosed from receiving adequate legal or physical protection. Respondent's application is denied since she has not established that she would be persecuted on account of race, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group; rather, the motivation behind her husband's alleged actions appears to be strictly personal.
CHARGE:
Order: Act of 1952 — Section 241(a)(2) [8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(2)] — Nonimmigrant visitor — remained longer.
ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT: Richard S. Brody, Esquire 53 State Street Boston, Massachusetts 02109.
ON BEHALF OF SERVICE: George Indelicato Appellate Trial Attorney.
This is an appeal from a decision of an immigration judge, dated April 2, 1975 finding the respondent deportable as charged and denying her application for withholding of deportation under section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The appeal will be dismissed.
The respondent is a married female alien who is a native and citizen of Haiti. She was admitted to the United States as a temporary visitor for pleasure on November 18, 1971. She has remained beyond the period authorized. The respondent admitted the factual allegations of the order to show cause, but denied deportability. We are satisfied that on the basis of the admissions, deportability has been established by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence.
The respondent has applied for withholding of deportation pursuant to section 243(h) of the Act. She is the wife of a deputy in the Haitian Government. This position is apparently analogous to that of a senator in the United States. She testified that prior to her departure from Haiti, her husband threatened her life and attempted to kill her by burning down the house in which she lived. The respondent also testified that she hid at the homes of relatives in Haiti and then fled to the United States.
A cousin of the respondent, who appeared as a witness, testified that while in Haiti, she had heard the respondent's husband threaten the respondent with bodily harm. A letter from the Department of State confirms that the respondent's husband is in fact a deputy in the Haitian Government.
Under section 243(h) of the Act, the Attorney General may temporarily withhold the deportation of any alien within the United States to any country in which the alien would be subject to persecution on account of his race, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. See Matter of Dunar, 14 I. & N. Dec. 310 (BIA 1973). The respondent does not claim that she would be persecuted by virtue of her inclusion in any of those classes; nor does she claim that the government of Haiti per se would persecute her. Rather, she contends that because of the high political position held by her husband, she would effectively be foreclosed from receiving adequate legal or physical protection in Haiti, and that this in turn amounts to persecution which the government of Haiti would do nothing to restrain.
We have in the past recognized that there could be situations where an alien would qualify for temporary withholding of deportation even though the persecution was at the hands of individuals not connected with any government. However, it would first have to be shown that the government concerned was either unwilling or unable to control the persecuting individual or group....
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