Gay = Asylum?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (“WSJ”) posits that the number of gay and lesbian people receiving asylum in the United States based on their sexual orientation has surged in recent years and that most such people come from countries in Central America where homosexuality is not criminalized (as opposed to places like Ugandan, where loving the wrong person is a hanging offense). The article, by Joel Millman, concludes that LGBT asylum cases from Mexico and Central America are more likely to be granted than most other types of asylum cases from those countries.

More gay people than ever are fleeing persecution.
More gay people than ever are fleeing persecution.

Heaven forbid that I should agree with the WSJ (Slate certainly didn’t in a piece that pretty clearly misreads the Journal article), but the anecdotal and statistical evidence supports the notion that more people are seeking asylum based on sexual orientation and that those claims are often more likely to succeed than claims by other people from the same countries. But of course, as a certified curmudgeon, I cannot completely agree with the Journal piece, and indeed, I have a few points to take issue with. Then I’d like to pose a question: Is it really easier–as the WSJ claims–for LGBT applicants to obtain asylum in the United States?

First, the issues. To reach his conclusion that more LGBT people are seeking asylum, Mr. Millman relies on two main sources—statistics from the U.S. government and information from Immigration Equality, probably the premier LGBT asylum organization in the country.

As to the statistics, the government does not keep data on the number of people who receive asylum based on sexual orientation. As a rough proxy, the WSJ looked at the percentage of cases granted based on “particular social group” or PSG, the protected category most often used in LGBT asylum cases. The Journal found that as a percentage of total cases, the number of PSG cases has increased over the last several years (from about 12% at the end of the G.W. Bush Administration to 15.7% today).

I am not convinced that this metric tells us a whole lot about the number of gay asylum cases, however. Many people seek asylum based on PSG–gays and lesbians, victims of domestic violence, people fleeing gang persecution, victims of female genital mutilation, to name the most obvious–and so an increase in the percentage of asylum seekers relying on PSG does not necessarily mean that the number of LGBT asylum seekers has gone up. Also, concurrent with our country’s more liberalized approach to LGBT asylum claims, we have expanded protection for other categories of people who fall under PSG. So while the modest increase in asylum seekers relying on PSG supports the notion that LGBT claims are up, I don’t think this data is incredibly significant.

In my opinion, the anecdotal evidence for an increase in the number of LGBT cases is more convincing. According to the WSJ: “Last year, just one New York-based advocacy group, Immigration Equality, helped put 279 LGBT foreigners into the asylum process, a 250% increase from 2009.” That pretty well comports with what I’ve been seeing in DC and what I’ve heard from other lawyers, and so I believe the number of LGBT claimants is up, but by how much, we don’t really know (I have harped on this before, but this lack of reliable data again illustrates the need for better information about asylum seekers).

Another quibble with the article is the WSJ’s comparison of LGBT asylum seekers from Mexico and Central America, where homosexuality is not illegal and—in fact—where laws theoretically protect gay people, with other countries whose governments condemn homosexuality or make it illegal. The article notes that of the top 10 countries with the most PSG grants (where PSG is a proxy for LGBT), only three have laws against homosexuality. This all strikes me as basically meaningless. We receive many more asylum seekers from our own neighborhood, so there is no surprise that most PSG claims come from nearby countries. And while it is interesting that three distant countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, and Guinea) with anti-gay laws produce large numbers of PSG asylees, we have no way of knowing how many of these cases are LGBT; particularly since all three countries have high instances of female genital mutilation, which also falls into the PSG category.

The bottom line for me is that, while the increased number of PSG cases is consistent with an increase in LGBT claims, the statistics don’t really tell us much. But based on the anecdotal evidence and my own experience, it seems clear that more people than before are seeking asylum based on sexual orientation. Whether this constitutes a “surge” in LGBT claims, as the WSJ concludes, is debatable given the lack of data.

Finally, do LGBT claimants have an easier time winning asylum than others?

As the WSJ points out, an LGBT case from Central America is certainly more likely to succeed than the average case from the region. According to the Journal, Immigration Equality’s “success rate for closed cases [is] 98%, roughly quadruple the batting average of the typical asylum-seeker.” (Though I would be curious to know how they define “success” when they came up with this figure). Of course, many cases from Central America are based on gang persecution, which does not easily fit within a protected category for purposes of asylum. Since LGBT asylum seekers fall within a protected category–PSG–it is not surprising that they have a higher success rate than average. I would imagine that other cases where there is an obvious protected ground–like political cases, for example–are also much more likely to succeed than the average case.

Also, as the Journal points out, for LGBT asylum seekers, the likelihood of success is particularly high because country conditions are particularly bad. In our office, we see a decent number of LGBT asylum applicants, and they often have been subject to severe physical and psychological violence. So based on my own experience, the information in the WSJ piece rings true.

In the end, we don’t have the data to make a firm conclusion about how much “easier” it is for LGBT claimants to obtain asylum, but it seems likely that the success rate for such cases is higher than for many other types of cases. Given the threats and violence against gay people around the world, it seems to me that a high asylum grant rate is completely justified.

Russian Artist Exposes Gay Asylum Seekers

In his native Russia, artist and filmmaker Alexander Kargaltsev was beaten by police at a gay pride event and detained after he left a gay club.  He came to the U.S. in 2010 and received asylum in 2011.  Last week, Mr. Kargaltsev held his first solo exhibit at a new gallery, called 287 Spring, in downtown Manhattan (which hopefully is not now under water).

The exhibit is entitled “Asylum” and consists of large photos, each depicting a nude gay or bisexual Russian man, with New York City shown in the background.  The men have stern expressions, and many were photographed provocatively in public areas, such as Central Park.  Under each photo is a caption: “Granted Asylum” or “Asylum Pending.”

The artist, strategically placed in front of one of his photos.

According to curator Ivan Savvine, “The models’ nakedness is a powerful visual statement imbued with symbolism.  They are not nude but naked, for they had courage to shed the many layers of fear and come out to the world uncovered, vulnerable, yet proud.”  He continues, “Their naked bodies thus also reveal their experience as refugees, for every person seeking refuge rebuilds his or her life completely ‘naked,’ starting from scratch with no family or friends and often without the language they can speak or understand.”

As a humble immigration lawyer who received most of his artistic training from Bill Alexander, I can’t help but find this type of artist speak a bit pretentious.  Also, I really can’t imagine many of my clients posing nude in public (and–no offense to my clients–I don’t want to imagine it).  But I suppose Mr. Kargaltsev’s exhibit raises some interesting points.

I agree with the idea that refugees start their lives over “naked.”  But to me, the more interesting analogy between asylum seekers and nakedness is the idea of exposing one’s past history to the scrutiny of an Asylum Officer or an Immigration Judge (not to mention to the asylum seeker’s own lawyer).  Depending on the person, and on the problems he faced in the home country, relating the story of past persecution can be humiliating and traumatic.

I have represented rape victims and torture victims.  When such people apply for asylum, they need to tell these stories.  Sometimes, people do not behave honorably under the threat of persecution.  They need to relate those stories as well.  I remember one client who fled his home when government soldiers broke in to look for him.  He left his wife and children behind.  My client had to explain this to the Immigration Judge, which was extremely difficult for him to do.  This is the type of “exposure” I think about when I think of refugees.  And in some ways, it is similar to exposing oneself naked before the camera, flaws and all.

Mr. Kargaltsev’s photos are of gay asylum seekers from Russia.  The photos I’ve seen depict good-looking young men whose nudity is nothing to be ashamed of.  In my experience, the exposure endured by asylum seekers is a lot less attractive than Mr. Kargaltsev’s images.  While Mr. Kargaltsev’s photos certainly add to the dialogue about issues faced by asylum seekers, in my opinion they gloss over the ugly truths about refugees and the pain that they have endured.  A more realistic and challenging exhibit in this vein would be less pleasant to look at, but more useful to understanding the real lives of refugees.

Want to Help Gay Couples with Immigration? Give Them Asylum

I recently met a gay man from Africa who has lived in the United States with his U.S.-citizen partner for many years.  The two men started a successful business and are pillars of their community.  But because they are a same-sex couple, the U.S. citizen cannot sponsor his partner for lawful permanent residence in the United States, and now they face imminent separation.  This is a problem for approximately 36,000 gay and lesbian bi-national couples (many of these couples have children), and it is probably one of the most insidious effects of the ironically-named Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”).

The Defense of Marriage Act: DOMAnd Dumber.

Last week, a federal appeals court struck a blow against DOMA.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that a provision of the DOMA related to federal tax benefits for married same-sex couples was unconstitutional.  However, the First Circuit said “its ruling would not be enforced until the Supreme Court decides the case, meaning that same-sex married couples will not be eligible to receive the economic benefits denied by the law until the high court rules” on the matter.  Given the current make up of the Supreme Court, it seems unlikely that the law will be struck down anytime soon.  We will have to wait and see.

In the mean time, there is something President Obama, Eric Holder, and Janet Nepolitano can do now to help same-sex bi-national couples: grant asylum to the foreign partner. 

If social conservatives can define “marriage” as a union between a man and a woman, why can’t progressives define “persecution” as the forced separation of same-sex couples due to immigration restrictions.  When the foreign-born partner demonstrates a well-founded fear of persecution on this basis, he should be granted asylum.

Although this definition of “persecution” stretches the normal meaning of the term, there is precedent for such a move.  For example, the Cuban Adjustment Act basically declares that anyone who escapes from Cuba is a refugee, eligible to remain permanently in the U.S.  Also, people who fear coercive family planning in China are eligible for asylum.  For the most part, people from these two groups would not meet the requirements for asylum, but because Congress has created special categories, they are eligible for relief. 

While the rules for China and Cuba are laws passed by Congress, the Executive Branch has acted unilaterally to expand the definition of who qualifies for asylum.  In 1996 the DOJ held that victims of female genital mutilation were eligible for asylum. See Matter of Kasinga, Int. Dec. 3278 (BIA 1996).  More recently, DHS determined that domestic violence could form the basis for asylum.

The Obama Administration has shown it can come up with creative solutions to difficult immigration problems.  Witness the new regulations on waivers.  Previously, an alien present in the U.S. who is ineligible to adjust status had to leave the United States and apply for a waiver.  This often meant a long separation from family members while the waiver was processed.  Starting in January 2013, such aliens can apply for a waiver in the United States and–if the waiver is approved–they can obtain lawful status with only a brief stay overseas.

President Obama has already concluded that the relevant portion of DOMA is unconstitutional and has refused to defend the law in court.  So why not do something for the thousands of same-sex couples faced with forced separation?  Janet Nepolitano of DHS and Eric Holder at DOJ could agree that separating married same-sex couples is tantamount to persecution, and they could grant asylum to the foreign partners.  If DOMA is repealed or overturned, the government could re-visit this definition of persecution.  But as long as this mean-spirited law remains on the books, the Obama Administration should do everything within its power to mitigate the harm.  We should grant asylum to gay and lesbian spouses of U.S. citizens.

New Government Training Manuel for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Asylum Claims

USCIS and Immigration Equality have joined forces to create a new training module for asylum adjudicators called “Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugee and Asylum Claims.”  According to Immigration Equality, the new module “instructs asylum officers on substantive aspects of the law and highlights the unique difficulties that LGBTI claimants may experience in articulating their claims for asylum.”  A few highlights from the module:

  • My favorite LGBTI asylum seeker.
    Helpful definitions, and appropriately sensitive questions, for officers to use, including specific instructions about questions to avoid, such as those related to specific sexual practices;
  • LGBTI-specific examples of harm that may constitute persecution, including: laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity in an applicant’s home country; forced medical or psychiatric treatment intended to “cure” an applicant’s sexual orientation; forced marriage to an opposite-gender spouse; severe economic harm; and beatings or other physical abuse;
  • Instructions for analyzing complex issues, for example, that a former opposite-gender marriage does not mean an applicant is not lesbian or gay; that LGBTI applicants are not required to meet pre-conceived stereotypes or “look gay;” and that cultural norms within the LGBTI community in an applicant’s home country may differ from those in the U.S.; and
  • A non-exhaustive list of possible one-year filing deadline exceptions (which make it difficult to pursue asylum after one year of presence in the United States), including: recently “coming out” as LGBTI; recent steps to transition from birth gender to corrected gender; a recent HIV diagnosis; post-traumatic stress disorder; or severe family opposition to an applicant’s identity.

I am particularly happy to see some (though, in my opinion, not enough) guidance about the one-year filing deadline (see page 47 of the module).  Most likely, the reason for the sparse guidance is that there is not much BIA case law on this issue (note to BIA–publish more cases!).  In my experience–and I am not alone–the one year deadline is a particular problem in LGBTI cases.

Overall, the module seems like a valuable resource for adjudicators and advocates.  Congratulations to Immigration Equality and USCIS on a job well done.

Czech Republic Subjects Asylum Seekers to a “Gay” Test

According to a report from Pink News, Europe’s Largest Gay News Service, the Czech Republic uses a test to determine whether asylum seekers are really gay.  The test involves a cleverly-named device known as a “phallometer,” which measures arousal.  The theory is that if a man (the test only works for people with phalluses) who claims to be gay becomes aroused while watching heterosexual pornography, then he is not really gay.  Yes, this is about as dumb as it sounds.

Although testing erections seems ridiculous, the problem of asylum seekers lying to obtain status is well known.  Certainly some asylum seekers falsely claim to be gay in order to win their cases.  I had a case once of a Russian woman who falsely claimed to be a lesbian.  Her case was denied by the Asylum Office, and she hired me to represent her in Immigration Court, where she was filing for adjustment of status based on her marriage (to a man).  We admitted that she lied on her asylum application and she applied for a waiver, which was granted.

It is not easy to detect false asylum claims, particularly when the claim involves delving into personal details, such as sexual orientation.  In cases I have worked on involving persecution based on sexual orientation, we submitted letters from friends and family attesting to the alien’s sexuality.  This has generally been sufficient for DHS, and they normally stipulate that the alien is gay.  Such an approach saves the alien (and everyone involved) the need to delve into personal details that can be embarrassing and humiliating for the asylum seeker, and is more consistent with international human rights law, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment.

The mood ring--less intrusive and more accurate than the phallometer

Cases where the asylum seeker does not have anyone to attest to his orientation are more problematic.  An alien’s credible testimony alone could be sufficient to support a finding that the alien is gay.  Perhaps if the alien seeks counseling for past persecution or discrimination, the care-giver could attest to his sexual orientation.  In some cases, courts might accept a lie detector test–at least it is less intrusive than a phallometer.

As for the Czech Republic, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights states that phallometric testing violates international human rights laws, which prohibit torture and inhumane or degrading treatment, and is particularly inappropriate for asylum seekers because they “might have suffered abuse due to their sexual orientation and are thus specifically constrained by this kind of exposure.”

Such a test seems degrading and insulting, not to mention completely useless for revealing a person’s sexual orientation.  Hopefully, now that the practice has come to light, it will be discontinued.

Special thanks to David Cleveland for alerting us to this issue.

The Eleventh Circuit Rules on Impermissible Gay Stereotypes

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that an Immigration Judge improperly relied on gay stereotypes to reach an adverse credibility determination. See Todorovic v. Attorney General, Case No. 09-11652 (11th Cir. Sept. 27, 2010)

Mladen Todorovic is a gay man from Serbian who came to the United States in 2000.  He applied for asylum in 2003, claiming to have endured several acts of persecution in Serbia on account of his sexual orientation.  Some of the persecution was perpetrated by government officials.  Mr. Todorovic was also persecuted by private individuals, but the government would not protect him.  His asylum claim was filed late, and his case was referred to the Immigration Court.

The Eleventh Circuit rules against offensive gay stereotypes. Sorry Bruno.

In his decision, the IJ stated, “[t]he Court studied the demeanor of this individual very carefully throughout his testimony in Court today, and this gentleman does not appear to be overtly gay.”  The IJ continued, “it is not readily apparent to a person who would see this gentleman for the first time that, that is the case, since he bears no effeminate traits or any other trait that would mark him as a homosexual.”  In reaching his conclusion, the IJ again noted that Mr. Todorovic “is not overtly homosexual,” and, therefore, that there was no reason to believe he would be “immediately recognized” as gay.

The Eleventh Circuit first noted that “One clearly impermissible form of conjecture and speculation, sometimes disguised as a ‘demeanor’ determination, is the use of stereotypes as a substitute for evidence.”  A number of other circuits have “rejected credibility determinations that rest on stereotypes about how persons belonging to a particular group would act, sound, or appear.”

The Court held:

As we see it, this so-called “demeanor” determination rests on wholly speculative assumptions made by the IJ; it is untethered from any evidential foundation; and it is thoroughly vague in its reference to “other trait[s]” that would mark the petitioner as a homosexual. Whatever else these offensive observations made by the fact-finder were, they were not credibility findings based on demeanor, but instead were driven by stereotypes about how a homosexual is supposed to look… The IJ’s comments elevated these ungrounded assumptions to demeanor evidence, and the IJ drew adverse inferences about the petitioner’s credibility and legal conclusions from them… These stereotypes most assuredly are not substantial evidence. They “would not be tolerated in other contexts, such as race or religion.” … We see no reason to tolerate them here.

The Court vacated the agency’s decision and remand the matter for a new hearing, “free of any impermissible stereotyping or ungrounded assumptions about how gay men are supposed to look or act.”

Gay Saudi Diplomat Fears Return to His Country

Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has applied for political asylum in the United States, claiming that Saudi officials have terminated his job after discovering that he was gay and was close friends with an Israeli Jewish woman.  MSNBC reports that on a Saudi website, Mr. Asseri recently criticized his country’s “backwardness” and the role of “militant imams” in Saudi society.  He also threatened to expose what he describes as politically embarrassing information about members of the Saudi royal family living in luxury in the U.S.  Mr. Asseri states that he could face persecution or death in his home country.

I suppose this represents some sort of progress.

According to MSNBC, the last time a Saudi diplomat applied for asylum in the U.S. was in 1994 when the first secretary for the Saudi mission to the United Nations was granted asylum after publicly criticizing his country’s human rights record and alleged support for terrorism.

If Mr. Asseri can demonstrate he is gay, he should have a good chance to win his asylum case: homosexuals have been defined as a particular social group and country conditions in Saudi Arabia are dangerous for gays and lesbians–according to the State Department report on Saudi Arabia, sexual activity between two persons of the same gender is punishable by death or flogging.

According to MSNBC, Mr. Asseri was interview by DHS on August 30, 2010.  He should expect a decision in the near future. 

What is curious to me about the case is why Mr. Asseri felt the need to publicize his criticisms of Saudi Arabia on the internet.  His complaint about “militant imams” might be understandable given his circumstances, but it certainly would not improve his situation were he to return home.  I know nothing about Mr. Asseri, but I’ve seen other aliens engage in activities in the U.S. that are possibly designed to bolster their asylum claims–for example, attending political rallies against their government or posting anti-government messages on the internet. 

Such activities present a challenge for the decision maker.  On the one hand, the activities may be legitimate political activities.  On the other hand, they could be designed merely to engineer a stronger case.  Either way, the activities make it more dangerous for the alien to return home.  In Mr. Asseri’s case, his internet postings do not seem to be the primary basis for his asylum claim and may simply be a manifestation of his anger over his treatment.  In any case, if he can demonstrate his sexual orientation and that he was fired from the Saudi embassy, that would likely be enough for a grant of asylum.