Wall Street Journal (Article by Dan Strumpf): The U.S. government is giving another look at the case of a Chinese woman who sought asylum in the U.S. after claiming she was forced to undergo two abortions in China.
Forced abortions in China have drawn fresh attention following the diplomatic row surrounding blind activist Chen Guangcheng, a critic of forced abortions and sterilizations under China's one-child policy who has been seeking U.S. protection.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals concerning Xiulian Li.
Ms. Li, 50 years old entered the U.S. in 2007 and filed an application for asylum in 2008. She told an immigration judge at a hearing in 2009 that she had been forced to undergo two abortions in China, one in the 1980s and a second in 2006, according to court filings.
"This claim, if true, would have entitled her to asylum," said the order from three Second Circuit judges, Jon O. Newman, Jose A. Cabranes and Raymond J. Lohier Jr.
In her original request for asylum, Ms. Li described the abortions to the immigration judge in sometimes-gruesome detail, saying that they were performed without an anesthetic. She said they "felt like someone pulled out my intestine."
Forced abortions are illegal in China but human-rights activists say they are sometimes ordered up by local government officials trying to meet goals under the one-child policy.
Ultimately, the immigration judge, Barbara A. Nelson, denied her request for asylum after raising questions about the credibility of Ms. Li's testimony. Specifically, Judge Nelson was troubled that some of Ms. Li's responses "went beyond the scope of the questions" she was asked. Judge Nelson was also concerned that Ms. Li failed to mention in her original request for asylum that she lost her government job after violating Chinese family-planning laws. The detail emerged during questioning.
The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld Judge Nelson's original decision last year. But on Tuesday, the Second Circuit ruled that some of Judge Nelson's criticisms of Ms. Li's responses weren't warranted. The Second Circuit also said it failed to understand Judge Nelson's concerns over Ms. Li's omission of her lost job.
"We have an obligation to make sure that the questioning of an applicant is fair and that unwarranted criticisms of legitimate responses do not create an unacceptable risk of a flawed assessment of credibility…We conclude that that risk is present in this case," the Second Circuit judges wrote.
The three judges said a renewed hearing on Ms. Li's case should be held with a different immigration judge. It wasn't immediately clear when that hearing would be held.
Ms. Li's attorney, Nathan Weill, declined to comment.
Forced abortions in China have drawn fresh attention following the diplomatic row surrounding blind activist Chen Guangcheng, a critic of forced abortions and sterilizations under China's one-child policy who has been seeking U.S. protection.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals concerning Xiulian Li.
Ms. Li, 50 years old entered the U.S. in 2007 and filed an application for asylum in 2008. She told an immigration judge at a hearing in 2009 that she had been forced to undergo two abortions in China, one in the 1980s and a second in 2006, according to court filings.
"This claim, if true, would have entitled her to asylum," said the order from three Second Circuit judges, Jon O. Newman, Jose A. Cabranes and Raymond J. Lohier Jr.
In her original request for asylum, Ms. Li described the abortions to the immigration judge in sometimes-gruesome detail, saying that they were performed without an anesthetic. She said they "felt like someone pulled out my intestine."
Forced abortions are illegal in China but human-rights activists say they are sometimes ordered up by local government officials trying to meet goals under the one-child policy.
Ultimately, the immigration judge, Barbara A. Nelson, denied her request for asylum after raising questions about the credibility of Ms. Li's testimony. Specifically, Judge Nelson was troubled that some of Ms. Li's responses "went beyond the scope of the questions" she was asked. Judge Nelson was also concerned that Ms. Li failed to mention in her original request for asylum that she lost her government job after violating Chinese family-planning laws. The detail emerged during questioning.
The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld Judge Nelson's original decision last year. But on Tuesday, the Second Circuit ruled that some of Judge Nelson's criticisms of Ms. Li's responses weren't warranted. The Second Circuit also said it failed to understand Judge Nelson's concerns over Ms. Li's omission of her lost job.
"We have an obligation to make sure that the questioning of an applicant is fair and that unwarranted criticisms of legitimate responses do not create an unacceptable risk of a flawed assessment of credibility…We conclude that that risk is present in this case," the Second Circuit judges wrote.
The three judges said a renewed hearing on Ms. Li's case should be held with a different immigration judge. It wasn't immediately clear when that hearing would be held.
Ms. Li's attorney, Nathan Weill, declined to comment.
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