Dean Johnson Comments for CNN on Immigration Ruling
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for a CNN report on an appeals court ruling in the case of a woman seeking asylum in the United States based on the high rates of femicide in her home country of Guatemala.
An immigration judge had denied her claim, and the denial was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals, but a July 13 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remands the case to the BIA for further review. The appeals court decision does not mean the woman will be granted asylum, Dean Johnson noted, since she would still have to prove she would be face persecution if returned to Guatemala.
"I don't think there's going to be a flood of Guatemalan women applying for asylum tomorrow," Dean Johnson said. "This is part of a trend among U.S. courts to ensure women are afforded protection under asylum laws."
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.