J-G-T

CourtBoard of Immigration Appeals
DecidedSeptember 25, 2020
DocketID 3996
StatusPublished

This text of J-G-T (J-G-T) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Board of Immigration Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J-G-T, (bia 2020).

Opinion

Cite as 28 I&N Dec. 97 (BIA 2020) Interim Decision #3996

Matter of J-G-T-, Respondent Decided September 25, 2020

U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review Board of Immigration Appeals

(1) In assessing whether to admit the testimony of a witness as an expert, an Immigration Judge should consider whether it is sufficiently relevant and reliable for the expert to offer an informed opinion, and if it is admitted, the Immigration Judge should then consider how much weight the testimony should receive. (2) In considering how much weight to give an expert’s testimony, the Immigration Judge should assess how probative and persuasive the testimony is regarding key issues in dispute for which the testimony is being offered. FOR RESPONDENT: Christian Gabriel Andreu-von Euw, San Diego, California FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Stephanie Groff, Assistant Legal Advisor; Monica Mubaraki, Assistant Chief Counsel BEFORE: Board Panel: MALPHRUS, MULLANE, and CREPPY, Appellate Immigration Judges.

MALPHRUS, Appellate Immigration Judge:

In a decision dated November 17, 2017, an Immigration Judge granted the respondent’s application for asylum under section 208(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A) (2012). 1 The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has appealed from that decision. The panel heard oral argument in this case. The DHS’s appeal will be sustained in part, and the record will be remanded to the Immigration Judge.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY The respondent is a native and citizen of Mexico who sought admission to the United States on May 26, 2011. In August 2011, the DHS initiated removal proceedings, charging that the respondent is removable as an 1 The Immigration Judge did not address the respondent’s request for withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted and opened for signature Dec. 10, 1984, G.A. Res. 39/46, 39 U.N. GAOR Supp. No. 51, at 197, U.N. Doc. A/RES/39/708 (1984) (entered into force June 26, 1987; for the United States Apr. 18, 1988).

97 Cite as 28 I&N Dec. 97 (BIA 2020) Interim Decision #3996

immigrant who had no valid entry document at the time of his arrival. In a hearing before the Immigration Judge, the respondent conceded removability and filed an application for asylum, claiming that he feared persecution from Iranian agents in Mexico. The respondent claimed that after starting college in 2010, he began working with a group of students for one of his professors. This group was involved in an effort to gather evidence about the alleged activities of foreign governments to launch cyberattacks against the United States. Although most of the work involved transcribing secret recordings taken from the various embassies in Mexico, the respondent became more deeply involved with the project. At the behest of his professor, the respondent feigned a conversion to Islam, fostered a relationship with the Iranian Ambassador to Mexico, and secured an invitation from the Ambassador to attend a religious school in Iran. In early 2011, the respondent traveled to Iran under the pretense of attending a religious school, but with the actual intent to develop additional relationships with Iranian officials and make clandestine recordings of Iran’s suspected cyberwarfare efforts. The respondent attended the school, which he discovered was an indoctrination center for Latin American students operated by an Iranian cleric, who was believed to be the architect of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Eventually, he attracted unwanted attention, and the devices he used to secretly record the religious leaders at the school were discovered. The respondent was accused of being a spy. He feared for his life, went to the Mexican Embassy, and fled from Iran. Because the respondent believed that Iranian agents pursued him in Mexico and would continue to do so, he fled to the United States. In support of his application, the respondent and his mother testified about his experiences in Iran and Mexico. In addition, the respondent presented the testimony of a witness to provide background knowledge and context for his claim. The witness is a national security consultant and analyst whose focus is on issues relating to Latin America, Iran, and transnational organized crime. The respondent’s evidence also included news articles that referenced his activities in Iran. In an oral decision, the Immigration Judge granted the respondent’s application for asylum, finding that he established a well-founded fear of persecution on account of his political opinion. 2 He determined that the

2 The Immigration Judge found that Iran’s “opposition to the respondent” was because of his “attempt[] to investigate and invite admission of interest in possible politically motivated cyberattacks, . . . ultimately exposing a school program which appeared to have political goals beyond simply education regarding religion.” Based on these findings, the

98 Cite as 28 I&N Dec. 97 (BIA 2020) Interim Decision #3996

respondent and his mother were credible. The Immigration Judge specifically said that he gave “significant weight” to the witness’s testimony that Iran would seek to punish the respondent for spying in Iran because “pro-Iranian regime actors,” such as Hezbollah and Mexican drug cartels, would seek “to engage in potentially politically beneficial schemes, especially if there was an added layer of plausible deniability, but without always careful aforethought to the plan.” The Immigration Judge also credited the witness’s claim that the Mexican Government lacks the ability to protect the respondent from harm. On appeal, the DHS does not dispute the respondent’s credibility or the veracity of his claim. 3 Rather, it challenges the Immigration Judge’s reliance on the witness’s testimony and his conclusion that the respondent established a well-founded fear of persecution from Iran in Mexico. The DHS argues that because of concerns regarding this witness’s expertise on the key issues in the case, the Immigration Judge erred in not qualifying him as an expert witness before considering his testimony. In addition, the DHS asserts that the Immigration Judge erred in giving greater weight to the witness’s testimony than to other evidence contained in the record.

II. ANALYSIS An asylum applicant bears the burden of establishing eligibility for asylum. Section 208(b)(1)(B) of the Act; 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(a) (2020). To meet this burden, the applicant must establish that he or she is a “refugee,” or one who is unable or unwilling to return to the country of removal “because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on

Immigration Judge held that the respondent’s imputed political opinion would be “at least one central reason” for any future harm. Section 208(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Act. The DHS did not challenge the Immigration Judge’s findings regarding political opinion in its supplemental brief or during oral argument. Given our disposition in this case and our decision to remand, we need not further consider this issue at this time. The Immigration Judge also determined that the respondent did not establish eligibility for asylum based on his religion or his membership in a particular social group, namely the group of students working for the professor. The respondent filed a cross-appeal from the Immigration Judge’s decision denying his request for asylum based on his membership in a particular social group, but he subsequently withdrew it.

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Bluebook (online)
J-G-T, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-g-t-bia-2020.