First Circuit rejects asylum petition of Chinese woman alleging religious persecution

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal of a Chinese woman, Jin Weng, who fought deportation on the grounds of religious persecution. In the case of Jin Weng vs Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, the 1st Circuit reviewed an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) which had affirmed the decision of an immigration judge to deny the Chinese immigrant asylum status under the Convention Against Torture.

It appears her asylum claim was rejected not because of a lack of evidence, but because the judge did not consider her testimony credible. The reason? When she was pulled from the trunk of a car attempting to cross the border from Mexico into California, she did not allege religious persecution to the officers who initially interrogated her. The allegation of religious persecution was not made until later, when she sought to fight deportation.

I’ve written an article summarizing the case on Examiner.com, which can be read here. To read the court’s ruling in its entirety, click here.

This case in some ways serves as another example of what Professor James Duane discussed in a video posted in a recent blog post on this site, where he advises people to never talk to the police. To see the article and video, click here.

William L. Pfeifer, Jr.

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