Antonio Morales-Arevalo v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Docket: 94-70332
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; May 22, 1995; Federal Appellate Court
Antonio Morales-Arevalo, a Guatemalan citizen, petitioned for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision that dismissed his appeal against an Immigration Judge's (IJ) ruling deeming him deportable and pretermitting his application for asylum and withholding of deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1105a(a), denied Morales-Arevalo's petition.
At his initial deportation hearing, Morales-Arevalo appeared without legal counsel despite being informed of his right to representation and receiving a list of free legal services. He requested an extension but was later warned that he would need to represent himself if he came to the continued hearing without counsel. During the subsequent hearing, he conceded deportability and expressed concerns primarily about economic conditions and the future of his son in Guatemala, rather than a well-founded fear of persecution. The IJ found that Morales-Arevalo's concerns were solely economic, leading to the decision to pretermit his asylum application. Additionally, Morales-Arevalo was deemed ineligible for voluntary departure due to a prior conviction for grand auto theft. His BIA appeal was dismissed, prompting the petition for review.
The Attorney General has the discretion to grant asylum to aliens classified as "refugees" under 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1158(a), which includes individuals unable or unwilling to return to their home country due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group membership, or political opinion (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(42)(A)). If an alien expresses fear of persecution upon return to any potential deportation country, the Immigration Judge (IJ) must inform the alien about the possibility of applying for asylum and provide the necessary application forms (8 C.F.R. Sec. 242.17(c)(2)). Eligibility for asylum requires the alien to demonstrate both a genuine subjective fear and an objectively reasonable fear of persecution, with the burden of proof resting on the alien (8 C.F.R. Sec. 208.13). Claims based solely on economic hardship do not qualify unless they exceed general economic disadvantage (Raas v. INS, 695 F.2d 596, 596 (9th Cir. 1982)). In this case, Morales-Arevalo's testimony indicated he was ineligible for asylum, leading the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to conclude that the IJ correctly pretermitted his asylum and withholding of deportation claim. Consequently, the petition was denied, and the case was found suitable for decision without oral argument. The standard for withholding of deportation is more stringent than that for asylum, and since Morales-Arevalo did not meet the asylum standard, the IJ's decision was also affirmed regarding withholding of deportation (Acewicz v. INS, 984 F.2d 1056, 1062 (9th Cir. 1993)). The decision is not suitable for publication and cannot be cited except as allowed by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
