## Facts

- A-H-, an Algerian national, was a self-identified leader-in-exile and spokesman for the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), an Islamist opposition movement in Algeria.
- After Algeria’s 1992 elections were canceled, armed Islamist groups linked to or associated with the FIS, including the GIA, committed widespread violence, including bombings of civilian targets and murders of journalists and intellectuals on account of political opinion or religious belief.
- Evidence indicated the FIS claimed influence over armed Islamist groups and that A-H- made widely disseminated statements that could be read as justifying or condoning violence; the record suggested a possible correlation between such statements and increased civilian killings.
- A-H- asserted he later disassociated from the GIA after it murdered two FIS leaders, but he continued acting as a leader-in-exile and spokesman.
- An Immigration Judge denied relief; the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed and granted asylum.
- The Acting INS Commissioner referred the BIA decision to the Attorney General for review.

## Issues

1. When can a leader-in-exile be found to have “ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in” persecution for purposes of the persecutor bar?
2. What constitutes “reasonable grounds for regarding” an applicant as a “danger to the security of the United States” for purposes of asylum and withholding bars?
3. How do burdens of proof operate when the record indicates possible application of the persecutor bar?
4. Even if statutory eligibility exists, may asylum be denied in the exercise of discretion based on connections to persecution or terrorism?

## Decision

- The Attorney General vacated the BIA’s grant of asylum and denied asylum as a matter of discretion.
- The Attorney General held that terrorist acts described in the record (including civilian bombings and targeted murders on protected grounds) constitute “persecution of others” for persecutor-bar analysis.
- The Attorney General articulated standards under which a leader-in-exile’s leadership role and public statements can amount to incitement, assistance, or participation in persecution, even absent direct physical involvement.
- The Attorney General interpreted “danger to the security of the United States” to include any nontrivial risk to national defense, foreign relations, or economic interests, and treated “reasonable grounds” as satisfied when information would permit a reasonable person to believe the applicant may pose such danger.
- The Attorney General applied a burden-shifting framework: once the government offers prima facie evidence indicating persecutor-bar conduct, the applicant must prove by a preponderance that the bar does not apply.
- The case was remanded to the BIA to address, among other matters, whether the persecutor bar applies, whether there are reasonable grounds to regard A-H- as a security danger, appropriate treatment of credibility concerns, and eligibility for withholding or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

## Legal Principles

- Asylum may be denied as a matter of discretion where an applicant has meaningful connections to organizations engaged in persecution or terrorism, even if statutory refugee criteria may otherwise be met.
- “Persecution of others” includes terrorist violence such as bombings of civilian targets and murders targeting persons on account of protected characteristics.
- A leader-in-exile may “incite, assist, or otherwise participate” in persecution where evidence shows the leader (a) sustained ties between a political movement and an armed group while aware of atrocities, (b) used influence to encourage atrocities through public statements, or (c) publicly condoned persecution without specific disassociation, particularly where statements appear linked to increased persecution.
- “Danger to the security of the United States” encompasses any nontrivial risk to defense, foreign relations, or economic interests; “reasonable grounds” exists when available information would permit a reasonable person to believe the applicant may pose such a danger.
- Burden shifting applies to the persecutor bar: the government must first introduce prima facie indicia of covered conduct; the applicant then bears the burden to prove the bar does not apply by a preponderance of the evidence.

## Conclusion

The Attorney General vacated a grant of asylum to an Algerian opposition leader-in-exile, denied asylum in discretion based on connections to terrorism-linked persecution, adopted a broad definition of the national-security bar, and required burden shifting once the government presents prima facie evidence suggesting persecutor-bar involvement, remanding for further determinations on the statutory bars and other protection claims.


Matter of A-H-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 774 (Att’y Gen. 2005)