Santos Guaman v. Sessions

Summary

The First Circuit vacated and remanded the BIA's denial of asylum, holding that the BIA and IJ erred as a matter of law by failing to apply the child-specific standard for evaluating past persecution claims—requiring that abuse be assessed from the child's perspective—and by relying on adult asylum standards. The court also found that the BIA failed to address the petitioner's argument that the Ecuadorian government did not actively enforce constitutional protections against discrimination, which is relevant to the government-inaction element of persecution. The case was remanded for the BIA to apply the correct childhood standard and to consider the government-inaction argument in the first instance.

Holdings

1. The BIA and IJ erred as a matter of law in failing to apply the childhood standard when evaluating Santos Guaman's past persecution claim, as the abuse occurred when he was a child.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in failing to apply the child-specific standard for past persecution when evaluating the experiences of a petitioner who suffered abuse as a child.
2. Whether the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in concluding that Santos Guaman did not have a well-founded fear of future persecution.

Disposition

vacated_and_remanded