Ninth Circuit definition of status for homosexuals regarding social association

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has reversed an immigration court decision, granting political asylum to a gay man, 45-year-old Jose Boer-Sedano.

On Friday, the unanimous three-judge panel ruled that Boer-Sedano's fear of persecution was very real, and that it was indeed based on his membership in a social group.

In an earlier immigration case, the 9th Circuit had defined a social group for this purpose as one "united by a voluntary association or by an innate characteristic that is so fundamental to the identities or consciences of its members that members either cannot, or should not be required, to change it."

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For more information on Immigration Equality visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/