Satish Kumar Sashi Lata Kumar v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 204 F.3d 931 (9th Cir. 2000). · Go Syfert
Satish Kumar Sashi Lata Kumar v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 204 F.3d 931 (9th Cir. 2000). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
71 citation events (67 in the last 25 years) across 2 distinct courts.
Treatment trajectory · 2000 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
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Cited for
At page 934 Distinguishing asylum and withholding of deportation burdens24 citing casesfinding presumption of future persecution rebutted where country conditions had changed markedly and petitioner’s political party had played open and active role in recent elections4 citing courts put it this way · 22 listed here
  • Jagtar Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr., 753 F.3d 826 (9th Cir. 2014).published 2 cites
    (reasoning that conditions had fundamentally changed where, inter alia, the petitioner’s political party had participated in elections)
  • Ascencio-Pando v. Holder, 400 F. App'x 237 (9th Cir. 2010).unpublished
    See id.; Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934-35 (9th Cir.2000); cf. Matter of Chen, 20 I. & N. Dec. 16, 19-20 (BIA 1989).
  • Karapetyan v. Mukasey, 276 F. App'x 673 (9th Cir. 2008).unpublished
    Substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of Karapetyan’s asylum claim because the government established changed country conditions in Armenia, rebutting the presumption of a well-founded fear of persecution, see Kumar v. INS, 204…
  • Lazarov v. Ashcroft, 89 F. App'x 106 (9th Cir. 2004).unpublished 2 cites
    (finding presumption of future persecution rebutted where country conditions had changed markedly and petitioner’s political party had played open and active role in recent elections)
  • Jaswant Lal Shakuntla Lal Rikesh Lal v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 255 F.3d 998 (9th Cir. 2001).published 16 cites
    Reg. 31945 , 31947 (June 11, 1998) (calling Matter of Chen the case "which the existing regulatory provisions were intended to codify"); Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 935 (9th Cir. 2000) (construing the exception by closely examining the fac…
  • Maria De La O Rodas-Mendoza v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 246 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 2001).published
    If an immigrant fails to qualify for asylum, therefore, she necessarily fails to qualify for withholding of deportation., Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000); Rivera Moreno v. INS, 213 F.3d 481, 485 (9th Cir.1999).
  • Senik Soghomonyan v. Eric Holder, Jr., 586 F. App'x 319 (9th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that, even if Soghomonyan was credible and established past persecution, the government rebutted his presumption of future fear. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13 (b)(ii); see Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 9…
  • Andrew Sawboh v. Eric Holder, Jr., 540 F. App'x 690 (9th Cir. 2013).unpublished
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000); Kazlauskas v. INS, 46 F.3d 902, 906 (9th Cir.1995) (U.S. Department of State country reports are “the most appropriate and perhaps the best resource for information on political situation…
  • Rigoberto Lopez v. Eric Holder, Jr., 518 F. App'x 554 (9th Cir. 2013).unpublished
    (presumption of future persecution was rebutted by changed country conditions)
  • Dhillon v. Holder, 485 F. App'x 252 (9th Cir. 2012).unpublished
    (concluding that petitioner’s experiences, including being stripped and fondled in front of her parents, punched and kicked, forced to renounce her religion, and beaten unconscious, were not sufficiently severe to warran…)
Show 12 more citing cases
  • Remberto Zecena v. Eric H. Holder Jr., 439 F. App'x 606 (9th Cir. 2011).unpublished
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13 (b)(1)(i)(A).
  • Kaur v. Holder, 421 F. App'x 680 (9th Cir. 2011).unpublished
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934-35 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Pineda v. Holder, 357 F. App'x 740 (9th Cir. 2009).unpublished 2 cites
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934-35 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Khudabakhshyan v. Mukasey, 309 F. App'x 121 (9th Cir. 2009).unpublished 2 cites
    (it is appropriate for BIA to use its expertise in considering contradictory and ambiguous background materials, and deciding which portions are relevant to applicant)
  • Singh v. Gonzales, 235 F. App'x 662 (9th Cir. 2007).unpublished 2 cites
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934-35 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Chand v. Gonzales, 238 F. App'x 310 (9th Cir. 2007).unpublished 2 cites
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000); see also Belayneh v. INS, 213 F.3d 488, 491 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Fonseca v. Gonzales, 123 F. App'x 323 (9th Cir. 2005).unpublished
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934-35 (9th Cir.2000); Iturribarria v. INS, 321 F.3d 889, 902-03 (9th Cir.2003).
  • Prasad v. Ashcroft, 119 F. App'x 85 (9th Cir. 2004).unpublished 3 cites
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Cokanavula v. Ashcroft, 114 F. App'x 827 (9th Cir. 2004).unpublished
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Ashok Chand Premila Mudaliar Chand v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 222 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2000).published
    See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Ram Bahadur Gurung v. Loretta Lynch, 667 F. App'x 389 (4th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    (free and fair elections that included alien’s political party can overcome the well-founded fear presumption)
  • Castaneda-Gonzales v. Immigr. & Naturalization Serv., 6 F. App'x 603 (9th Cir. 2001).unpublished
    (holding that changed country conditions in Fiji rebutted any presumption that Kumar possessed a well-founded fear of persecution)
At page 933 Detailing persecution and asylum claims evidence8 citing casesfather continued to support the Labour Party or if they saw her around, they would kill her. Her family reported the incident to the police, but the…opening of page *933 (no citing court says what it cites this page for) · 6 listed here
  • Lovejit Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr., 473 F. App'x 641 (9th Cir. 2012).unpublished
    Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933 (9th Cir. 2000).
  • Munga v. Holder, 325 F. App'x 605 (9th Cir. 2009).unpublished 2 cites
    We review for substantial evidence, Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933 (9th Cir.2000), and we grant in part and deny in part the petition for review.
  • Gonzalez-Gomez v. Holder, 312 F. App'x 965 (9th Cir. 2009).unpublished 4 cites
    We review for substantial evidence, Ku mar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933 (9th Cir.2000), and we deny the petition for review.
  • Bica v. Ashcroft, 70 F. App'x 462 (9th Cir. 2003).unpublished
    See, e.g., 8 CFR § 208.13 (a); Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933-34 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 995 (9th Cir. 2003).published
    Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933 (9th Cir.2000).
  • Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 995 (9th Cir. 2003).published
    Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 933 (9th Cir.2000)..
relying on general reports on country conditions, produced by the State Department and Amnesty International, in analyzing changed conditions and how they affected the petitionerno pin page on record · 2 citing cases listed
At page 932 rejecting a humanitarian asylum claim by an Indo-Fijian woman who was beaten by soldiers on multiple occasions, and once stripped and fondled by soldiers who threatened to kill her2 citing cases1 citing court put it this way
  • Anjuman Yara v. Eric Holder, Jr., 552 F. App'x 732 (9th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    (rejecting a humanitarian asylum claim by an Indo-Fijian woman who was beaten by soldiers on multiple occasions, and once stripped and fondled by soldiers who threatened to kill her)
  • Gurpreet Singh v. Eric Holder, Jr., 491 F. App'x 835 (9th Cir. 2012).unpublished
    (upholding denial of humanitarian asylum where soldiers stripped and fondled petitioner; punched, kicked, and beat her unconscious; forced her to renounce her religion; and tied up, beat, and otherwise harmed her parents)
At page 935 construing the exception by closely examining the facts of Matter of Chen2 citing cases1 citing court put it this way
Other citing cases1 with no pin cite or quoted language on record
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Satish KUMAR; Sashi Lata Kumar, Petitioners,
v.
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent
98-71129.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Mar 2, 2000.
Published opinion
204 F.3d 931
2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1661
2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 3140
2000 WL 232275
William Roman Gardner, Miguel D. Gadda (argued), San Francisco, California, for the petitioners., David W. Ogden, Brenda E. Ellison, Laura M. Friedman, Alice E. Loughran (argued), United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the respondent.
Wiggins, O'Scannlain, Hawkins.
Cited by 42 opinions  |  Published
Pinpoint authority: bottom 53%
O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether a change in Fijian country conditions rebuts the presumption that a Fijian of Indian descent seeking asylum in the United States has a well-founded fear of persecution.

I

Petitioner Sashi Lata Kumar illegally entered the United States at Blaine, Washington, on or about April 24, 1991. When Kumar applied for asylum in this country, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) initiated deportation proceedings on the ground that she had entered the country without inspection by an immigration officer. At an evidentiary hearing before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Ku-mar testified that in 1986, when she was twenty-one years old, her father was politically active in the Fijian Labour Party. During the general election of that year, her father organized charity events, raised funds for the party, and transported voters to the polls. Kumar assisted her father in these activities by distributing beverages and handling other tasks. The Labour Party won the election, but was removed from power in a bloodless coup led by the military in 1987. •

After the coup in 1987, a group of soldiers came to her home, tied her parents to a chair, and beat them. The soldiers locked her younger sister and brother in a room, and then at gun-point, demanded that Kumar remove her clothes. When she refused, the soldiers stripped her in front of her parents. The soldiers then fondled her all over her body. Finally, the soldiers punched and hit her father, telling him that this is what was going to happen to people who support the Labour Party. The soldiers warned Kumar that if her[*933] father continued to support the Labour Party or if they saw her around, they would kill her.

Her family reported the incident to the police, but the authorities took no action. Later, her father was taken into custody and incarcerated for a fortnight where he was beaten severely and released only after having his life threatened.

A second incident occurred in July 1987 when Kumar and her mother were attending the Hindu temple where they worshiped. While there, a group of soldiers entered the temple, broke the religious statues contained therein, and burned a holy text. Two of the soldiers dragged her out of the temple by her hair. When her mother attempted to intervene, the soldiers knocked her unconscious. Once outside the temple, the soldiers punched and kicked Kumar. Then, at gun-point, one of the soldiers demanded that she change her religion from Hinduism to Christianity. Out of fear for her life, she said that she agreed.

A third incident took place in September 1987. A truckload of soldiers came to the secretarial school that Kumar was attending, shouting that Indians should go back to India. As her schoolmates fled, the soldiers caught Kumar and beat her until she was unconscious.

Approximately two months after this final incident, in November 1987, Kumar’s father sent her to an uncle in Canada, where she applied unsuccessfully for refugee status. While she was in Canada, she . met and married her current husband, who was also denied asylum in Canada. Together, the two crossed the border into the United States illegally in 1991.

On February 3, 1995, the IJ denied Ku-mar’s application for asylum and withholding of deportation, but he granted her voluntary departure. In deciding the matter, the IJ relied primarily on the changed country conditions of Fiji. In addition, he did not And that acts perpetrated against her were so egregious that she warranted asylum regardless of the changed country conditions. He concluded his opinion by noting that because Kumar had not successfully made out a claim for asylum, she necessarily “failed to sustain her burden of proof with regarding withholding of deportation as well.”

The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed. The Board did “not find any argument presented on appeal that persuades us that the Immigration Judge erred in his decision in this case.” Specifically, the Board noted that Kumar “has not challenged the Immigration Judge’s finding that the conditions in Fiji have fundamentally changed since the time of the incidents in which she based her application for asylum and withholding.” Accordingly, the Board dismissed Kumar’s appeal.

II

Although we typically review the decision of the BIA, when the Board adopts the decision of the IJ, we also review the decision of the IJ. See Alaelua v. INS, 45 F.3d 1379, 1382 (9th Cir.1995). We review the lower court’s decision that an alien has not established eligibility for asylum under the “substantial evidence” standard. See Singh v. INS, 134 F.3d 962, 966 (9th Cir.1998). Therefore, the IJ’s determination, affirmed by the Board, that an alien is not eligible for asylum must be upheld if supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence in the record. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481, 112 S.Ct. 812, 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). In other words, Kumar must show “that the evidence [s]he presented was so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution.” Id.

To qualify for asylum under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, Kumar must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution, on account of statutorily protected grounds, that is both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. See Sanchez-Trujil [*934] lo v. INS, 801 F.2d 1571, 1579 (9th Cir. 1986). Kumar is not, however, required to show that an occurrence of the feared persecution is more likely than not. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 431, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987) (“One can certainly have a well-founded fear of án event happening when there is less than a 50% chance of the occurrence taking place”).

To reach the conclusion that Petitioner qualifies for withholding of deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h), the IJ must find that she has shown that there would be a “clear probability of persecution” if she were deported. INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407, 430, 104 S.Ct. 2489, 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984). For this second form of relief, therefore, Petitioner bears a higher burden of proof, under which she must demonstrate that it would be “more likely than not” that the feared persecution would occur. Id. at 424, 104 S.Ct. 2489. Thus, should Kumar fail to qualify for the discretionary relief of asylum, she would necessarily fail to qualify for the mandatory relief of withholding of deportation. See Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. at 440-41, 107 S.Ct. 1207.

Ill

Kumar claims asylum on the basis of the persecution she suffered on account of her race, political opinion, and religious beliefs. Although the abuse suffered in this case is at least as serious as in other cases where we have found persecution, see, e.g., Korablina v. INS, 158 F.3d 1038, 1044-45 (finding that persecution was compelled where petitioner witnessed a violent attack on her boss, was tied to a chair with a noose around her neck, and was threatened with death); Surita v. INS, 95 F.3d 814, 819 (9th Cir.1996) (finding that persecution was compelled where soldiers robbed petitioner every day for a week, looted her family’s house at gunpoint, and threatened to rape and kill the woman if she reported the robbery to the police), the presumption of a well-founded fear she would ordinarily enjoy under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) and Garrovillas v. INS, 156 F.3d 1010, 1017 (9th Cir.1997), is overcome, in this case, by the changed conditions in Kumar’s native country. See Kazlauskas v. INS, 46 F.3d 902, 906 (9th Cir.1995); 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(l)(i). Therefore, even if we were to assume that Kumar suffered past persecution, our conclusion that conditions in Fiji have changed rebuts any presumption that she possesses a well-founded fear of future persecution. See Kazlauskas, 46 F.3d at 906.

The record in this case is replete with evidence of changed country conditions and Kumar has presented no evidence or arguments to suggest otherwise. Reports by both Amnesty International and the Department of State conclude that there is no longer widespread abuse of human-rights in Fiji. Indeed, the Labour Party to which Kumar’s father belonged — and which she herself served — played an open and active role in the 1992 elections, which were found to be free and fair. The Immigration Judge specifically relied upon this evidence in finding that the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution has been overcome. We can find no evidence in the record that compels an alternative conclusion.

All of the suffering that Kumar endured took place in the aftermath of the 1987 coups. Since that time, conditions have improved significantly in Fiji, and any lingering discrimination that may exist against Indo-Fijians certainly does not rise to the level of persecution. The Immigration Judge’s denial of Kumar’s ap-' plication upon this ground, therefore, is supported by substantial evidence. See Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. at 481, 112 S.Ct. 812.

IV

The only remaining avenue of relief for Kumar is the argument that her suffering was so severe that it constituted atrocious persecution and, for humanitari[*935] an reasons, she should therefore not be forced to return to Fiji. See Acewicz v. INS, 984 F.2d 1056, 1062 (9th Cir.1993) (citing Matter of Chen, 20 I & N Dec. 16, 19, 1989 WL 331860 (B.I.A.1989)). The abuse visited upon Kumar does not amount to this level of horror. In Chen, the eight-year-old petitioner’s home was destroyed, and his father was dragged through streets and forced to write confessions of his crimes over fifty times. See id. at 19. His father was also pushed into a bonfire of burning bibles. See id. The petitioner was also beaten and sent for reeducation on numerous occasions, as well as being stoned at one point. See id. The Board held that such severe persecution overrode the fact of changed country conditions in China since that time. See id. at 21. Kumar’s suffering does not compare to that described in Chen, and she therefore does not warrant a special dispensation of humanitarian relief. The record does not compel a contrary finding.

V

Because Kumar has not met the standard for asylum, she necessarily cannot meet the more stringent standard for withholding of deportation. See De Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391, 394 (9th Cir. 1997).

VI

For the foregoing reasons, we hold that substantial evidence exists to support the Board of Immigration Appeals’ determination that the change in Fijian country conditions rebuts Kumar’s well-founded fear of persecution.

PETITION DENIED.