Matter of A-B-, Respondent Decision by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018)

Asylum and withholding of removal based on private actor persecution on account of membership in a particular social group

Résumé

In a June 11, 2018 decision, Attorney General Jeff Sessions overruled a landmark 2014 decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 338 (BIA 2014), which had set the precedent that women fleeing domestic violence were eligible to apply for asylum. Attorney General Sessions reversed that precedential decision to rule that, except in rare cases, fleeing domestic abuse and gang-related violence should not be considered a basis for being granted asylum in the United States.