v.
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206 File Name: 09a0083p.06
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT _________________
X Petitioner, - LUISA MARGARITA DIAZ-ZANATTA, - - - No. 08-3097 v. , > - Respondent. - ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General, - N On Appeal from the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A76 428 081. Argued: December 11, 2008 Decided and Filed: March 4, 2009 Before: KENNEDY, BATCHELDER, and DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judges.
_________________
COUNSEL ARGUED: Douglas S. Weigle, BARTLETT & WEIGLE, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Petitioner. Michael C. Heyse, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Barry L. Frager, FRAGER LAW FIRM, Memphis, Tennessee, for Petitioner. Michael C. Heyse, Mary Jane Candaux, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. _________________
OPINION _________________
ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Luisa Margarita Diaz-Zanatta seeks review of the denial of her petition for asylum and withholding of removal. An immigration judge (“IJ”) found that, because Diaz-Zanatta had “assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution” of others, see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(B)(2)(a)(i) and 1231(b)(3)(B)(i), while she was a member of Peruvian military intelligence, she was ineligible for these forms of relief. The No. 08-3097 Diaz-Zanatta v. Holder Page 2 IJ instead granted Diaz-Zanatta a deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed and adopted the IJ’s opinion. Diaz-Zanatta now petitions for review.
[*1]The government contends that the meaning of the statutory language “assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution,” as written in 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 and 1231, is plain and unambiguous, and, in any event, is controlled by Fedorenko v. United States, 449 U.S. 490 (1981), a case involving these terms in a different statute and in the context of the denaturalization of an individual who had been a guard at a Nazi concentration camp. We disagree with the government’s view, and conclude that the legal analysis of these terms when applied to an alien who is accused of having “assisted or participated in persecution” in the context of working for a legitimate arm of a recognized government differs materially from that analysis when applied to an alien who served as a Nazi concentration camp guard. Because we further conclude that in applying the persecution bar to Diaz-Zanatta, the IJ erred as a matter of law by failing to conduct the appropriate analysis and make the necessary findings of fact, we will remand the case for further proceedings.
I. BACKGROUND
In 1993, Diaz-Zanatta graduated from military intelligence school and became an intelligence analyst with a division of the Peruvian military — the Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejercito (“SIE” or “army intelligence”). The SIE was charged with collecting intelligence about and apprehending terrorists, who were then supposed to be handed over to the Directorate Against Terrorism (“DIRCOTE”) for placement in the judicial system. Diaz-Zanatta was required to gather information on individuals and pass that information up the chain of command. For example, one of Diaz-Zanatta’s first assignments was to attend a meeting for an organization at the University of San Marcos