Domestic Violence Can Be Grounds for Asylum
Author: Elana Jacobs, J.D..
Source: Volume 20, Number 02, December/January 2015 , pp.17-18(2)
< previous article |next article > |return to table of contents
Abstract:
The nation’s central immigration appeals court, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), recently issued a landmark decision that recognizes domestic violence (DV) as a basis for asylum. The case, Matter of A-R-C-G-, held that “married women in Guatemala who are unable to leave their relationship” may constitute a particular social group that forms the basis of a claim for asylum or withholding of removal under §§ 208(a) and 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(a) and 1231(b)(3).Keywords: international definition of “refugee”; Aminta Cifuentes; Guatemala; three-prong test; El Salvador; Honduras
Affiliations:
1: Hastings College of the Law.