The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has found that a woman who fled to the United States after persecution by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is eligible for political asylum. The opinion rejected a Board of Immigration Appeals finding which held that even if someone faces death due to a refusal to join or cooperate with a guerrilla group because of political opinion, that person cannot qualify for asylum if the guerrilla group initially targeted her on account of the group’s self-interest.

“It would be truly twisted logic to find that someone who resists persecution by a group because of her political ideals can’t qualify for asylum, simply because her persecutor initially targeted her without knowing about her opinions,” said Chuck Roth, director of litigation, Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center. “The Board of Immigration Appeals turned a sensible requirement into an excuse to deny asylum to someone whom everyone acknowledges would be killed if she were deported. We are very glad that the Court of Appeals rejected that argument.”

Doris Martinez-Buendia had been targeted by the FARC since 2004 because she refused to give the organization credit for the work of the humanitarian group she organized, which delivers medical supplies and health care to remote impoverished Colombian communities. The persecution against Ms. Martinez-Buendia began with threatening phone calls, but soon escalated to the kidnapping of two relatives and then to death threats when she refused to associate her organization with the FARC because, she told the immigration court, “it is a rebel group to the democracy of Colombia, because they have harmed a lot of Colombia and my beginnings would not let me or allow me to do this.” Ms. Martinez-Buendia fled to the United States in 2005 and applied for asylum.

“The FARC’s increasingly violent actions, which the Board found amounted to persecution, came in response to Martinez-Buendia’s refusal to politically align her humanitarian work with the FARC,” Judge Joel Flaum wrote in the court’s August 10 opinion. “While it may be unclear whether the FARC initially targeted her to overcome her political stance, the later persecution came as a result of her refusal to cooperate with the FARC to advance their political agenda.”

Ms. Martinez-Buendia was represented by the pro bono law firm of Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP and the National Immigrant Justice Center at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Members of the law firm of Mayer Brown LLP also assisted in preparing for the oral argument.

To view this article on the National Immigrant Justice Center Website, click here.   

Download a PDF of the Seventh Circuit Ruling below.