Ghebllawi v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
28 F.3d 83 (1994)
- Written by Mary Katherine Cunningham, JD
Facts
In 1980, Tarek Ghebllawi (defendant) entered the United States from Libya, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (plaintiff) initiated deportation proceedings before an immigration judge (IJ). At the proceedings, Ghebllawi testified that while in university in Portland, Oregon, he belonged to the General Union of the Students of Libya. Ghebllawi testified he opposed the government in Libya led by Muammar Qadhafi and spoke at rallies in opposition to the Qadhafi government. Ghebllawi testified that in 1984, he and his friend Salem Glali engaged in a political argument with the pro-Qadhafi Libyan Students Union and that the pro-Qadhafi students threatened him. Ghebllawi testified that shortly after this argument, his friend Glali returned to Libya, where the government killed Glali when he attempted to violently overthrow the Qadhafi government. Ghebllawi testified that shortly after this argument, the government of Libya ordered him through his family to return to Libya and that when he refused, they cancelled his student allowance. Because he lacked funds, Ghebllawi ceased to be a full-time student and applied for asylum when the INS initiated deportation proceedings. The IJ denied the application for asylum, finding Ghebllawi failed to demonstrate he would be a direct target of interest to the Qadhafi government to establish a well-founded fear of persecution if he returned to Libya. Ghebllawi appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the decision by the IJ “in all respects.” The BIA stated it considered INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca and concluded Ghebllawi’s fear of persecution based on the killing of Glali was not reasonable given Ghebllawi engaged in peaceful opposition. Ghebllawi appealed to the Ninth Circuit, reasserting his application for asylum.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Noonan, J.)
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