## Facts

- The respondent was a native and citizen of Burma (Myanmar), an ethnic Chin and Christian.
- She supported the Chin National Front (CNF), an organization opposing Burma’s military regime and advocating autonomy and human rights for the Chin people.
- The CNF had an armed wing and used firearms and explosives against the Burmese government.
- While outside Burma, the respondent donated S$1100 over an 11-month period to the CNF.
- The respondent entered the United States and sought asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), asserting fear of persecution and torture based on ethnicity, religion, political opinion, and CNF support.
- An Immigration Judge found the respondent removable, concluded she otherwise met the standards for asylum and withholding, but denied relief based on the terrorism/material support bar; CAT relief was also denied.

## Issues

1. Whether the statutory definition of terrorist activity permits consideration of an organization’s goals, the character of the regime it opposes, or whether violence is defensive when determining whether it is a terrorist organization.
2. Whether an applicant’s intent in donating, or the organization’s intended use of donated funds, is relevant to whether the applicant provided “material support” under INA § 212(a)(3)(B)(iv)(VI).
3. Whether S$1100 donated over 11 months constituted “material support.”
4. Whether triggering the terrorism/material support bar renders an applicant ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal, and what effect it has on CAT protection.

## Decision

- The Board sustained the appeal in part and dismissed it in part.
- The Board held the CNF fell within the statutory definition of a terrorist organization because of its use of firearms and explosives, and adjudicators may not apply a “totality of the circumstances” test based on political objectives or the nature of the opposing regime.
- The Board held neither the donor’s intent nor the recipient’s intended use of funds is considered in determining “material support” under INA § 212(a)(3)(B)(iv)(VI).
- The Board concluded the respondent’s S$1100 contributions were sufficiently substantial to constitute material support.
- The Board held the respondent was barred from asylum and withholding of removal as a result of providing material support to a terrorist organization.
- The Board vacated the denial of CAT protection and remanded for further proceedings and updated background checks.

## Legal Principles

- INA § 212(a)(3)(B)’s terrorism definitions are act-based; adjudicators may not consider an organization’s political legitimacy, goals, or the character of the government it opposes when the organization’s conduct meets the statutory criteria.
- “Material support” under INA § 212(a)(3)(B)(iv)(VI) does not turn on the alien’s subjective purpose or on earmarking or intended downstream use by the organization; the inquiry is whether the assistance has a logical and reasonably foreseeable tendency to help sustain the organization.
- The material support bar applies broadly to monetary contributions, including relatively small donations, when they can maintain or support the organization’s operations.
- The relevant mental-state limitation is knowledge of the organization’s character, subject to the statutory exception requiring a showing (by clear and convincing evidence) that the actor did not know and should not reasonably have known the organization was of that character.
- A finding of inadmissibility for terrorist activity/material support triggers mandatory statutory bars to asylum and withholding of removal.
- Terrorism-related bars to asylum and withholding do not automatically preclude CAT protection; CAT must be evaluated independently on the record.

## Conclusion

The Board applied a strict reading of the INA terrorism provisions, holding that donations to a group meeting the statute’s terrorist-organization definition constitute material support without regard to the donor’s motives or the group’s political aims, thereby barring asylum and withholding, while remanding for further consideration of CAT protection.


Matter of S-K-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 936 (B.I.A. 2006)