 NEWS FROM THE COURTS
Amoshaityte v. INS, Tenth Circuit
In this case, the court upheld the denial of asylum.
Regina Tamoshaityte, a native of Lithuania, applied for asylum in the US in 1992. She claimed that if she returned to Lithuania, she would face persecution because of her involvement with the Communist Party. The INS denied her application and placed her in deportation proceedings for overstaying her tourist visa. She conceded her deportability, but again sought asylum, which was again denied. She appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which upheld the denial. She then appealed to the Tenth Circuit.
Tamoshaityte claimed that after Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union, she provided to the press files that showed that some Lithuanian political leaders were former KGB agents. She said that because of this, she was harassed and detained by the authorities. The Immigration Judge found that her allegations were not credible because the two asylum applications were not consistent. The IJ also found that she had failed to establish a well-founded fear of persecution because her accusations were an insufficient basis for someone to want revenge. The IJ also found that no one who had made similar allegations of KGB involvement had been persecuted, making it more unlikely that she would face persecution. The Tenth Circuit found that there was no error in either the substance of the IJ’s opinion or the manner in which it was reached, and so upheld the denial of asylum.
The opinion is available online at http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/immigdaily/cases/2001,0703-Tamoshaityte.shtm.
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