Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511 (2009), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court involving whether the bar to asylum in the United States for persecutors applies to asylum applicants who have been the target of credible threats of harm or torture in their home countries for refusing to participate further in persecution.[1] The petitioner, Daniel Negusie, claimed he was forced to assist in the mistreatment of prisoners in Eritrea under threat of execution, and that because any assistance he rendered was provided under duress he should still be eligible for asylum.

Negusie v. Holder
Argued November 5, 2008
Decided March 3, 2009
Full case nameDaniel Girmai Negusie, Petitioner v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General
Citations555 U.S. 511 (more)
129 S. Ct. 1159; 173 L. Ed. 2d 20; 2009 U.S. LEXIS 1768
Case history
PriorNegusie v. Gonzales, 231 F. App'x 325 (5th Cir. 2007); cert. granted, 552 U.S. 1255 (2008).
Holding
The BIA and Fifth Circuit misapplied Fedorenko as mandating that whether an alien is compelled to assist in persecution is immaterial for persecutor-bar purposes.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
MajorityKennedy, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Souter, Ginsburg, Alito
ConcurrenceScalia, joined by Alito
Concur/dissentStevens, joined by Breyer
DissentThomas
Laws applied
Refugee Act of 1980

The Court held that the Board of Immigration Appeals and United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit erred in their interpretation of the Court's holding in Fedorenko v. United States (1981) when they evaluated Daniel's asylum petition, as they presumed that an alien's claimed coercion to participate in persecution was immaterial to determining whether the "persecutor bar" applies.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511 (2009).

Further reading

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  • Karp, David A. (2009). "Setting the Persecutor Bar for Political Asylum after Negusie". Florida Law Review. 61 (4): 933–943.
  • Lonegan, Bryan (2011). "Sinners or Saints: Child Soldiers and the Persecutor Bar to Asylum After Negusie v. Holder". Boston College Third World Law Journal. 31 (1): 71–99.
  • Simon, Charlotte (2010). "Change is Coming: Rethinking the Material Support Bar following the Supreme Court's Holding in Negusie v. Holder". Houston Law Review. 47 (3): 707–740.
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