Persecution in Dallas Asylum Cases

Persecution and Requests for Refugee or Asylum Status

If you have left your home country and are unwilling to return due to fears of persecution, you may be able to use this fact to obtain immigration relief from the United States government. The U.S. immigration legal system makes it possible for people in your position to petition for refugee or asylum status. With success, you could receive a green card and become a lawful permanent resident, a fact which also opens the door for you to pursue full citizenship through the process of naturalization.

What qualifies as persecution in immigration law?

In order to claim that you have been a victim of persecution, you will have to be able to supply evidence of treatment which meets the definition of persecution. You must have experienced harm, or have reason to fear that you will experience harm, which is sufficiently serious to amount to persecution.

This may consist of threats to your life or freedom, though it is not necessary that you have been faced with any actual threat of lethal force or punishment. Persecution is mistreatment that exceeds the level of harassment, but it is a type of abuse that violates the victim's rights and is based on his or her membership in a certain group or category.

When determining whether an individual has been persecuted, the asylum officer will consider both the actual facts of the alleged mistreatment and the reasons which would have motivated the persecutor in his or her actions. Persecution is mistreatment or harm that is based on the target's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. It is a violation of the victim's human rights, and a refusal to tolerate the ways in which the target is different from the persecutor.

If you believe that you may be eligible to claim refugee or asylum status based on persecution, contact us at the Mathur Law Offices, P.C., for an initial case evaluation with a Dallas immigration lawyer who can help you with the entire application process.