United States Seventh Circuit

IJ committed a clear error of law in assuming that one is not entitled to claim asylum on the basis of religious persecution; the case is remanded. Because Eritrea persecutes Jehovah's Witnesses, and because an order removing the applicant to Ethiopia or Eritrea is likely to cause her to end up in Eritrea, an IJ must determine whether she is indeed a Jehovah's Witness.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/20/2004
• Published 01/20/2004

Judges

• POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, and POSNER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Riddhi Jani (submitted a brief), Blackwell Igbanugo, Minneapolis, MN, for Petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• George P. Katsivalis (submitted a brief), Office of the District Counsel, Chicago, IL, John C. Cunningham (submitted a brief), Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondent.