Court: No Immigration Protection for Former Gang Members


  • By
    SUDHIN THANAWALA, ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Nov 30, 2016, 8:21 PM ET



A federal appeals court says immigrants in the United States illegally are not automatically eligible for asylum on the basis that they are former gang members who risk persecution if they return home.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld federal immigration standards that exclude former gang members from social groups that can clearly qualify for protection.


Immigration experts say the ruling could affect thousands of immigrants who are fleeing gang-related violence in Central America.


The ruling came in a deportation proceeding against a man from El Salvador, Wilfredo Reyes, who left a gang in his home country and entered the United States illegally in 2001 at the age of 18.


Reyes sought to stay in the U.S. under a law that prevents U.S. authorities from sending immigrants to countries where their lives would be threatened because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

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