Falun Gong member loses

The !!th Circuit said a Falun Gong member, from China, should be deported, because:
1. he was not a core leader
2. there was no evidence the Chinese Government knew that he was a Falun Gong member while in the USA

3. he did not claim that, if he returned to China, that he would : a] practice Falun Gong publicly, or b] avow openly hhis Falun Gong affiliation

be active here in the USA!

the Asylum Officer in Newark, NJ asked the victim of FGM these questions:

1] did you join any groups here in the USA?
2] did you join an anti-FGM group? why not? you say you could not find one?
3] why didn't you start one, by yourself?

the applicant could not answer any of these questions.
The applicant was denied. No asylum for her.

Ethiopia #2

The Asylum Officer also asked:
-is there anything else?
-if you return to your country today, what would happen? why?
When did you protest the first time in the USA? where? how many people were there?
what views did you express? did anyone notice?
did anyone from your government notice you? how do you know? how would they know your name?
How would your government have your photo? it is on your passport, and I.D. Card? they could compare photos of each protestor with photos of people they know are in the USA?
-in your two-page Declaration, there is nothing about paying bribes, correct? why isn't that detail in the Declaration?
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after you left your country, did your husband have any problems? when?
When did the police talk to him the first time?
how many different times did they talk to him?
what did they ask?
-how did husband answer, and then what did they ask?
did your husband share any emotions with you? is he angry? depressed? discouraged? anxious?
Is there anything else? really? what?
Is there anything else?
how many people did you ask, to write letters of support for you?
of those people, how many actually did write letters?
-did you ask anyone twice to write a letter? what did your friend say, when you asked?

activist from Ethiopia

The Asylum Officer asked these questions, of the pro-democracy activist from Ethiopia:
-what is the date of birth of your husband? what was the date of your marriage?
who helped you prepare this application?
-why are you applying for asylum?
why do you fear your government?
Why were you arrested?
where were you, at the moment of your arrest? what time was it?
what were you doing at the moment of your arrest?
then what happened?
what questions did he ask you?
what did he hit you with?
tell me about all weapons, and all words, from the guard!
what language did he speak? what accent? where was he from?
-did he show any emotions? did he get angry? was he bored?
-why did you go to the hospital?
what did the doctor say to you? what did the nurse say to you?
did they give you any medicine?
did you have any visitors at the hospital? did one of them write a letter of support for you?
-How many times were you interrogated? were you hit each time, or just some of the times?
What did they ask you? how did the guard feel about your answers? did he show any emotions? was he listening to your answers? did some of your answers really make him mad?
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did you join a political party in your country? why? when did you join?
what did you do? you sat in a chair in a room, and listened while other people talked? did you DO anything? distribute pamphlets? sell items to raise money? ask people to attend rallies and meetings? ask people to give money?
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what is your political opinion?
did you do anything here in the USA?
why did you join that group?
how many protests did you attend? where were they? what happened at the first protest? where did you stand? did you hold something, like a large sign?
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why didn't you flee sooner from your country? you were released from prison in 2007, but you did not leave your country until 2009? why the delay? was it hard to get a visa? hard to save money for airplane ticket? how did you get out of your country? your government hates you, but it gave you a passport, and let you leave from the airport?
-how much of a bribe did you pay at the airport? 5,000 birr? who did you pay it to?
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man frm burma denied asylum

The IJ denied asylum to Mr. Thu, from Burma, because he was inconsistent and because he did not know what was inside his own passport.
1. he said he was a member of the "Rakhine" ethnic group, but his I.D. card said, " Bamar."
2. he said he was not a member of a student political group, but his I-589 said that he was.
3. he said he was in prison for the 12 months of 1997, but his passport had a stamp in it, stating that he traveled in September 1997.
4. he said his government hated him, but his government issued him a passport, and also extended it.
5. he said he had very strong political opinions; but he only joined an oppositional party in the USA after two years of arrival.
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What should the smart asylum applicant do?
1. read your own passport; read your own documents.
2. keep your story short, simple, and clear, so that you can repeat it later, so your mother can write a letter of support that is consistent with your history.
3. The more details you write down, the more details you must remember. Do you want your Judge to think: "what kind of moron would say one thing, and then voluntarily give me documents that say the opposite? what kind of moron would do that?"
6. if you have strong political opinions, then act on them! Be active! become famous, notorious, and conspicuous!