Odalis Mireida Chicas-Machado v. Garland

El Salvador citizen and resident Odalis Mireida Chicas-Machado (plaintiff) was a Christian who became the secretary of her church. In 2015, members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang began regularly harassing Chicas-Machado on her walks between her home and the church. Eventually, the gang’s conduct escalated. Members confronted Chicas-Machado at a store, ordering her to begin informing members any time a police car came near the area. The members stated that Chicas-Machado was to be a lookout because her Christianity would insulate her from police suspicion. Chicas-Machado refused, instead reporting the members to the police. Two days later, the members confronted Chicas-Machado at her home. They threatened to rape and kill her. Chicas-Machado perceived the threat as credible because MS-13 had killed her uncle when he refused to join the gang and had also killed a fellow churchgoer just days after making a similar threat against him. Chicas-Machado promptly fled to the United States. She applied for asylum, arguing that she qualified as a refugee because she had a well-founded fear of religious-based persecution. An immigration judge denied Chicas-Machado’s application, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. The BIA reasoned that MS-13’s motivation for persecuting Chicas-Machado was not her religion but rather the fact that the gang saw her as an exploitable asset unlikely to attract police suspicion. Chicas-Machado appealed the BIA’s decision.