2012 Grantee Case Update From National Immigrant Justice Center

The National Immigrant Justice Center, a 2012 Grantee, received support for a case, Cece v. Holder, in the Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. On August 9, 2013, the court adopted the National Immigrant Justice Center’s position on the definition of “particular social group” as applied to gender-based asylum claims and in closer accordance with international refugee law.

This decision should have extremely positive implications for social group-based asylum cases, particularly those involving gender-based claims and individuals fleeing non-governmental persecution. The court clarified that the breadth of a social group definition is irrelevant to the viability of the argument, and reaffirmed that a social group can be based on “a shared past experience or status [that] has imparted some knowledge or labeling that cannot be undone.”

The decision is described in the National Immigrant Justice Center’s Final Report for 2012 grantees which appears here.