Federal case law summary: Immigration, asylum, China one-child policy.

Lin v. Holder. Immigration, asylum, Chinese one-child policy

In removal proceeding, aliens sought asylum, asserting that they feared persecution for violation of China's one child policy, since they had two children born in the United States. Immigration Judge concluded that aliens' testimony as to their fears were credible, but that fears were not objectively reasonable. Immigration Judge relied, in part, upon State Department Country Profile, which concluded that overall enforcement of family planning laws in aliens' province was "uneven", and that children born in U.S. were not counted. Court of Appeals concluded that this was a reasonable conclusion, and denied petition for review.

Aliens also argued that Immigration Judge erred in taking administrative notice of State Department report. The court disagreed. It did caution that immigration authorities should treat such reports with "healthy skepticism, rather than as a holy writ." However, in this case, the Immigration Judge did maintain the "individualized nature of the inquiry." Especially in a case where the burden of proof had not shifted to the government, it was not error to consider the report.

No. 09 3090, 620 F.3d 807 (Minn. Ct. App. Sept. 1, 2010).

Please see the original opinion for the court's exact language.

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Richard P. Clem is an attorney and continuing legal education (CLE) provider in Minnesota. He has been in private practice in the Twin Cities for 25 years. He has a J.D., cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul and a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota. His reported cases include: Asociacion Nacional de Pescadores a Pequena Escala o Artesanales de Colombia v. Dow Quimica de Colombia, 988 F.2d 559, rehearing denied, 5 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1041 (1994); LaMott v. Apple Valley Health Care Center, 465 N.W.2d 585 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991); Abo el Ela v. State, 468 N.W.2d 580 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991).

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