Ngengwe v. Mukasey
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
543 F.3d 1029 (2008)
- Written by Mary Katherine Cunningham, JD
Facts
Elizabeth Simeni Ngengwe (defendant) entered the United States from Cameroon, and Attorney General Michael Mukasey (plaintiff) initiated deportation proceedings before an immigration judge (IJ). At the deportation proceedings, Ngengwe testified that she married her husband, who came from a different province in Cameroon, and that the couple had two sons. Ngengwe testified that her husband died in 2000 and that her in-laws subsequently detained her in their home. Ngengwe testified that her in-laws kept her children away from her, confiscated all of her belongings, and closed the bank account she had shared with her husband. Ngengwe testified that she eventually escaped with her children to her parents’ home in another part of the country. Ngengwe testified that her in-laws demanded she either marry her deceased husband’s brother or repay them the bride’s price. Ngengwe testified that her in-laws beat her severely and threatened to kill her and her children if she did not comply with their demands. Ngengwe testified that she did not report what happened to the police because she believed the police would not do anything. The IJ denied the asylum application, finding Ngengwe did not suffer past persecution on account of her membership in a particular social group and did not have a well-founded fear of persecution if she returned to Cameroon. Ngengwe appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the IJ decision. Ngengwe appealed the BIA decision to the Eighth Circuit, reasserting her application for asylum.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Benton, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.