Lie v. Ashcroft

Imelda Laurencia Lie (plaintiff) filed an application for asylum for herself and on behalf of her husband, Soyono Liem, and her son, Andre Yulius Suyono (plaintiffs). Lie and her family were ethnic Chinese Christians living in Indonesia during a time of widespread persecution of Indonesia’s Chinese Christians by Indonesian Muslims. The United States Department of State’s 1999 country report on the status of human rights in Indonesia noted that in May 1998, frequent assaults on homes and businesses that were Chinese owned resulted in over 1,000 deaths, followed by a decline in violence. In 1997 Lie’s husband, Liem, was robbed at his store and called a Chinese pig. After this, Liem went to America. Subsequently, robbers robbed Lie at home, called her a Chinese pig, threatened her if she did not give them money, and cut her arm with a knife. However, Lie remained in the same home for another 21 months, due to her son’s schooling, without being assaulted again. Lie claimed a well-founded fear of persecution, and an immigration judge granted asylum. The United States government (defendant) filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which reversed, stating that the robbery at the store was not motivated by ethnicity or religion. The BIA ruled that an ethnic slur during the robbery was insufficient to establish motivation, and even if it was sufficient, robbery was not persecution. Lie sought review.