Rhoa-Zamora v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

971 F.2d 26
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 4, 1992
DocketNos. 91-1949, 91-1513 and 91-1551
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 971 F.2d 26 (Rhoa-Zamora v. Immigration & Naturalization Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rhoa-Zamora v. Immigration & Naturalization Service, 971 F.2d 26 (7th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

The petitioners in these consolidated appeals are Nicaraguan nationals who fled Nicaragua while the Sandinistas were in [29]*29power and subsequently sought asylum in this country. All four petitioners were denied asylum by an Immigration Judge and appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (the Board). In each case, the Board took administrative notice that, as of April 1990, “the Sandinista party no longer controls the Nicaraguan government” and concluded that, “under the present circumstances,” the record did not support a finding that the petitioner had “a well-founded fear of persecution by the Sandinista government were he to return to Nicaragua.” Petitioners claim that the Board erred in finding that they did not have a well-founded fear of persecution because of the change in the Nicaraguan government. They also contend that the Board violated their rights to due process by failing to accord each petitioner , an individualized determination of his claim. In addition, petitioner Zamora argues that the Board deprived him of due process by failing to give him an opportunity to rebut the noticed facts. Petitioners therefore ask this court either to reverse the Board’s decisions or to grant their motions to adduce additional evidence under 28 U.S.C. § 2347(c) and “remand these proceedings to the [Board] for further consideration” in light of that evidence.

I. FACTS

A. Agustín Rhoa-Zamora

Agustín Rhoa-Zamora entered the United States illegally on December 24, 1986. He was apprehended by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and charged with deportability under 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2). Zamora conceded de-portability, but requested asylum pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) and withholding of deportation pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h). To be eligible for asylum, an alien must establish that he meets the statutory definition of “refugee,” which requires him to show either past persecution or a “well-founded fear” of future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social-group or political opinion. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A). The decision whether to grant asylum to a statutorily eligible alien is within the discretion of the Attorney General. INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 423 n. 18, 104 S.Ct. 2489, 2497 n. 18, 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984). Withholding of deportation, by contrast, is mandatory if the applicant can meet the higher standard of showing a “clear probability” of persecution on account of one of these five grounds if he were returned to his country. Id. at 421 n. 15, 104 S.Ct. at 2496 n. 15.

At his deportation hearing, Zamora testified that he fled Nicaragua because of religious persecution directed at him and his family. He claimed that he was an adherent of the Charismatic Catholic revival movement and described numerous incidents of Sandinista violence against him and other members of his faith. The Immigration Judge rejected Zamora’s testimony as neither “candid” nor “credible” and concluded that Zamora had established neither a “clear probability that he would be subject to persecution upon return to Nicaragua” nor a well-founded, subjective fear of persecution. The judge therefore denied his application for asylum and ordered him to depart the country within two months.

Zamora appealed to the Board. While the appeal was pending, national elections were held in Nicaragua and a new coalition government made up of parties opposed to the Sandinistas was voted into office. On January 31, 1991, the Board issued a written opinion dismissing Zamora’s appeal. Without prior notice to Zamora, the Board took administrative notice of the change in government in Nicaragua and concluded that, since the Sandinista party no longer governs Nicaragua, Zamora did not have a well-founded • fear of persecution by the Sandinista government should he return. The Board ordered Zamora to depart within thirty days.

On April 25, 1991, Zamora filed with the Board a motion to reopen the proceeding pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 3.2.1 In support of his motion, Zamora submitted various materials allegedly evincing the Sandinistas’ [30]*30continuing ability to persecute him. The Board has not, to this date, ruled on the motion. On April 26, 1991, Zamora filed a petition for review of the Board’s order in this court. The Board certified the administrative record and relinquished it to this court for purposes of that appeal.

B. Luis Esquivel-Berrios

Luis Esquivel-Berrios fled Nicaragua in February of 1985 at the age of thirteen. He went first to Honduras and then to Guatemala, where he remained for three and one-half years before entering the United States in July of 1988. On July 21, 1988, Berrios was arrested by the INS and charged with deportability. Like Zamora, Berrios conceded deportability but sought either asylum or withholding of deportation.

At his hearing, Berrios testified that he had left Nicaragua because he feared being forcibly conscripted into military service by the Sandinista government. He testified that in February of 1985 it was common in his village for twelve- and thirteen-year-old boys to be taken into military service, and that he personally knew of other twelve- and thirteen-year-old boys who had been kidnapped and conscripted. ' Berrios also testified that he was politically opposed to the Sandinista government, and that he remains a conscientious objector to any form of military service in light of his firmly-held religious and moral beliefs. He testified that he believed that if he were returned to Nicaragua he would be either shot or jailed by the Sandinista government because of his decision to avoid conscription.

The Immigration Judge found that Berr-ios’ testimony was credible, but nonetheless concluded that Berrios had not met his burden of showing that he was eligible for asylum or withholding of deportation. The judge noted that the Board of Immigration Appeals has long adhered to the position that “it is not persecution for a country to require military service of its citizens.” Although there are exceptions to this rule, the judge concluded that this case did not fit within any such exception. He found no objective evidence of record that Nicaragua recruits twelve- or thirteen-year-olds into military service. Further, the judge noted that Berrios could certainly be required to serve in the Nicaraguan military if returned there at present, and could be convicted of a crime and jailed if he refused to do so. Finally, the judge found no objective evidence that Berrios would receive disproportionate treatment for his previous decision to avoid conscription. The Immigration Judge therefore denied Berrios’ application for asylum or withholding of deportation and ordered that he be deported.

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