United States Ninth Circuit

Injuries to a family must be considered in an asylum case where the events that form the basis of the past persecution claim were perceived when the petitioner was a child. Petition for review of a denial of requests for asylum and withholding of removal brought by Guatemalan natives of Mayan descent is granted where: 1) the IJ erred as a matter of law in failing to look at the events at issue from petitioners' perspective, nor measure the degree of their injuries by their impact on children of their ages; 2) the IJ's credibility findings were not supported by substantial evidence; and 3) the IJ's "alternative" analysis and findings were similarly erroneous.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/20/2007
• Decided 08/08/2007
• Published 08/08/2007

Judges

• NOONAN, Circuit Judge:, Before:  JOHN T. NOONAN, JAY S. BYBEE, and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Todd Pickles, San Francisco, CA, for the petitioners.


• For Appellees:
  
• Blair O'Connor, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the respondent.