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Heightened Particular Social Group Standard for Nuclear Families in Asylum Adjudications (Matter of L-E-A-)

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States
Operative dateJuly 29, 2019
CategoryAsylum or protection
Policy toolEligibility
Affected groupAsylum seekers

Policy effect

Overruled prior BIA precedent recognizing the respondent's father's immediate family as a particular social group and held that most nuclear families do not qualify as particular social groups for asylum eligibility unless shown to be socially distinct within the society in question. Phase scope: Nationwide across EOIR and USCIS asylum adjudications

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: Overruled prior BIA precedent recognizing the respondent's father's immediate family as a particular social group and held that most nuclear families do not qualify as particular social groups for asylum eligibility unless shown to be socially distinct within the society in question.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

(1) In Matter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 40 (BIA 2017), the Board of Immigration Appeals improperly recognized the respondent’s father’s immediate family as a “particular social group” for purposes of qualifying for asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act. (2) All asylum applicants seeking to establish membership in a “particular social group,” including groups defined by family or kinship ties, must establish that the group is (1) composed of members who share a common immutable characteristic; (2) defined with particularity; and (3) socially distinct within the society in question. (3) While the Board has recognized certain clans and subclans as “particular social groups,” most nuclear families are not inherently socially distinct and therefore do not qualify as “particular social groups.”
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney GeneralMatter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 581 (A.G. 2019)Open official source
Retrieved from https://justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1187856/dl?inline=

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Automated source validation is not independent human legal review. The finding should not be treated as legal advice. Record fcp5-ec6aa936bf0f268ff8da. Something wrong? Flag this record.

Other United States changes operative in 2019