UC Law SF Scores Key Victory in Immigration Battle
In a win for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies () and the Hastings Appellate Project, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision Aug. 7 denying asylum to an indigenous Guatemalan woman seeking refuge in the U.S. from domestic violence.
Sontos Diaz-Reynoso was represented by professors and students with the Hastings Appellate Project, in which student advocates brief and argue cases before the Ninth Circuit. The ruling in聽Diaz-Reynoso v. Barr聽marks the latest in a series of recent appellate court decisions rejecting former Attorney General Jeff Sessions鈥 attempts to foreclose refugee protection for people fleeing domestic violence and other abuses.
CGRS commended the court鈥檚聽, which affirmed that survivors like Diaz-Reynoso can qualify for asylum. The plaintiff sought asylum in the U.S. after enduring years of severe physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her common-law husband in Guatemala.
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) relied on聽 to deny Diaz-Reynoso asylum without conducting a fair and meaningful analysis of her case. In its cursory review, the BIA failed to consider social and economic factors that had made it impossible for Diaz-Reynoso to escape her abuser, said CGRS Legal Director . The BIA also ignored evidence that Diaz-Reynoso had twice reported her husband鈥檚 abuse to local authorities, whose inaction left her with nowhere to turn in Guatemala and forced her to flee.
CGRS supported Diaz-Reynoso as聽amicus curiae, or 鈥渇riend of the court,鈥 and also聽听补蝉听amicus聽in a related case heard by the same panel, which remains pending.
Blaine Bookey, CGRS Legal Director
鈥淲e applaud the Ninth Circuit鈥檚 ruling in Ms. Diaz-Reynoso鈥檚 case,鈥 Bookey said. 鈥淲e are gratified that the court adopted our arguments, affirming unequivocally that the administration cannot categorically reject domestic violence-related claims or use聽Matter of A-B-聽as justification to single survivors out for discriminatory treatment. Instead basic principles of longstanding asylum law require it evaluate all cases fairly, on the facts presented.鈥
The students who won the case are 鈥20 and 鈥20. Supervising attorneys were HAP Director 鈥97, a partner at Hanson Bridgett; HAP Supervising Attorney 鈥11; and Stephen Tollafield 鈥02, Director of the Legal Research & Writing and Moot Court Department.
Tiffany J. Gates
鈥淲e are pleased that our Hastings Appellate Project team was able to obtain a remand for our client, and that the Ninth Circuit recognized and rejected the BIA鈥檚 attempt to avoid the heavy lifting involved in considering our client鈥檚 proposed social group,鈥 Gates said. 鈥淭he published opinion is an important step in negating another governmental attempt at creating a de facto bar to obtaining asylum or withholding of removal.鈥
The victory “is truly a testament to the hard work, dedication, skill, and teamwork of our student counsel, Hilda Kajbaf and Shandyn Pierce,” Gates said. “Their devotion to our client and tireless efforts on her behalf are emblematic of what the legal profession has come to expect of Hastings graduates. Our clinic could not be prouder of their tremendous accomplishment in this case.鈥
The Ninth Circuit joins several other courts that have rejected the Trump administration鈥檚 intent to impose a blanket ban on asylum claims based on domestic violence. Earlier this year, the First Circuit in聽聽and the Sixth Circuit in聽 overturned denials of asylum to two women fleeing abuse in El Salvador and Guatemala, and the D.C. Circuit also recently聽聽key parts of the nationwide injunction in聽, blocking the application of聽础-叠-听in credible fear screenings at the border.
Read the full CGRS press release . Read more about the case in the .