Castillo-Villagra v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
972 F.2d 1017 (1992)
- Written by Jack Newell, JD
Facts
Castillo-Villagra (plaintiff) petitioned for asylum in the United States. The board of immigration appeals (BIA) (defendant) denied her petition on the grounds that she did not have a legitimate fear of persecution in her home country of Nicaragua. Castillo-Villagra claimed that she could not return to Nicaragua for fear that she would face reprisals from the Sandinistas based on her political stance opposing them. The BIA officially noticed three facts. First, Violeta Chamorro, an anti-Sandinista leader, had won the Nicaraguan presidency. Second, an anti-Sandinista coalition had secured a parliamentary majority. Third, the Sandinistas were no longer in power. Based on these noticed facts, the BIA rejected Castillo-Villagra’s asylum claim because she did not face a legitimate fear of persecution in her home country. The BIA did not give her an opportunity to dispute any of these facts. Castillo-Villagra appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit, claiming that the BIA had violated her due-process rights by not allowing her to dispute the noticed fact that the Sandinistas were not in power.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kleinfeld, J.)
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