Record supported IJ’s denial of alien’s applications for asylum and withholding of removal, even though alien alleged that she had been victim of threats based on her sexual orientation, and that she could not live as openly gay woman in Mexico without being persecuted. IJ could properly find that threats alien received regarding cuts to her skin and statement that something “bad” would happen to her children if alien kept seeing another female were not so extreme to constitute persecution, since said threats did not involve grave harm, and alien remained in Mexico without incident for four months following threats. Also, alien did not provide evidence that state actors in Mexico tolerated systematic effort to kill or seriously injure gay persons, where Mexico legalized gay marriage and prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. Moreover, alien’s claims of economic hardship if forced to return to Mexico were generally shared by all segments of population in Mexico.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Immigration