## Facts

- The respondent, a native and citizen of El Salvador, entered the United States without inspection in 1991 and later obtained Temporary Protected Status.
- In 1990, she was kidnapped by Salvadoran guerrillas and, under threat of death, forced to undergo weapons training and perform labor for about a year.
- The forced labor included cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes for the guerrillas, who were engaged in armed and violent opposition to the Salvadoran Government.
- After the respondent departed and returned to the United States on advance parole in 2004, DHS charged her as an arriving alien without valid entry documents under INA § 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I).
- The respondent sought cancellation of removal; DHS argued she was ineligible because she had provided material support to a terrorist organization.
- An Immigration Judge granted cancellation, but the BIA reversed, concluding the respondent’s conduct constituted material support and rendered her inadmissible.
- On remand, the respondent applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection; the IJ found the terrorism-related bar precluded asylum and withholding but granted CAT deferral.
- DHS appealed the CAT deferral grant, and the respondent cross-appealed the denial of other relief.

## Issues

1. Whether coerced cooking, cleaning, and similar services for Salvadoran guerrillas constitute “material support” to a terrorist organization under INA § 212(a)(3)(B).
2. Whether “material support” contains a quantitative threshold that excludes de minimis aid.
3. Whether the material-support bar includes an implied duress exception.
4. Whether the respondent remained eligible for CAT protection (deferral of removal) despite the terrorism-related bar.

## Decision

- The BIA held that an alien provides “material support” if the act has a logical and reasonably foreseeable tendency to promote, sustain, or maintain the terrorist organization, even to a de minimis degree.
- The BIA concluded the respondent’s forced labor (cooking, cleaning, washing clothes) aided the guerrillas’ operations and therefore constituted material support under INA § 212(a)(3)(B).
- The BIA rejected both a de minimis exception and an implied duress exception to the material-support bar, reasoning that any mitigation is through the Executive’s discretionary waiver process.
- The BIA dismissed the respondent’s cross-appeal (leaving her barred from cancellation, asylum, and withholding) and remanded for further proceedings regarding CAT deferral, sustaining DHS’s appeal in part as to CAT-related findings.

## Legal Principles

- “Material support” under INA § 212(a)(3)(B)(iv)(VI) covers support that foreseeably helps a terrorist organization function or continue its mission; the amount or value of support need not be substantial.
- The statute contains no quantitative limitation; even minimal support may trigger the terrorism-related inadmissibility bar.
- The statute contains no implied duress exception; coercion does not negate the material-support bar, and hardship cases are addressed through discretionary exemptions by the political branches.
- Terrorism-related inadmissibility can bar eligibility for cancellation of removal, asylum, and withholding of removal, but does not categorically preclude CAT deferral.

## Conclusion

The BIA interpreted “material support” broadly to include coerced, low-level domestic labor that foreseeably assists a terrorist organization, rejected de minimis and duress carve-outs, and remanded for further consideration of CAT deferral as the remaining potential protection.


Matter of A-C-M-, 27 I. & N. Dec. 303 (B.I.A. 2018)