Stsreba v. Holder, Jr., No. 09-4312 (6th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePetitioner and her son are Estonian citizens who are ethnically Russian; her husband is a Russian citizen. All three came to the United States legally and sought asylum and withholding of removal, claiming past persecution on account of their Russian ethnicity and fear of future persecution. They claim that petitioner's Estonian citizenship was revoked after Estonia regained independence from the USSR; Estonia invalidated Russian medical degrees, limiting job opportunities for petitioner; petitioner's son received a delayed diagnosis of a genetic defect, PKU, and inferior health care on account of his ethnicity; and that an older son, residing in Estonia, has been subjected to mistreatment based on ethnicity. The immigration judge denied asylum and withholding of removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. The Sixth Circuit vacated, finding that the BIA did not consider whether revocation of citizenship on account of ethnicity is persecution, and that the BIA lacked substantial evidence to support its conclusion that petitioner’s job limitations were neither persecution nor on account of ethnicity.
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