Can You Get A Negative Credible Fear Determination If You Have A Political Opinion Asylum Claim?

An Indian National was detained at the Tallahatchie County, Mississippi Detention Center. He had just received a negative credible fear asylum finding and he was upset. He called his friend, and told him, “If I return to India I will be killed.”

The client was a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal Mann Party (Mann Party) and he was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was attacked on numerous occasions, so it made no sense how he received a negative credible fear determination. His friend sent the documentary evidence which clearly showed that our client had a valid claim and the decision made by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) was incorrect. After seeing the documentary evidence, we agreed something needed to be done.

The client was transferred from the Tallahatchie County, Mississippi Detention Center to a Detention Center in Massachusetts because the Tallahatchie Detention Center is only a temporary housing facility for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainees. After he was transferred, his case was set for an Immigration Judge Hearing. When an individual receives a negative credible fear determination, he is entitled to an Immigration Judge Review Hearing to determine whether or not USCIS made the proper finding. During that hearing, the Immigration judge (IJ) considered oral and written evidence (by law, the judge may “receive into evidence any oral or written statement which is material and relevant to any issue in the review),” and upheld the USCIS findings, but we didn’t give up. We continued to fight.

A Request for Reconsideration (RFR) was prepared for USCIS laying out why the asylum decision was wrong and why it should be reversed. USCIS accepted the request and forwarded it to another USCIS office to determine whether the first decision was in error. This was the last resort.

A few weeks later, our paralegal calls me into her office and tells us she has exciting news for me. She slowly takes the document out of the envelope with a big smile on her face, we knew it was good news. She stands and screams out, the decision was REVERSED. Attached to the decision was a Notice to Appear (NTA), which officially places our client in removal proceedings and eligible to seek a bond through an Immigration Judge. After reading the letter, we sighed from relief because this case was difficult.

We have had numerous negative credible fear determinations reversed and every reversal decision is always exciting because they are hard, time consuming, and rare (we believe we are an expert in getting negative credible fear determinations reversed due to our past results at Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A.).

A few weeks later, we had a bond hearing for the client, and the attorney representing the Department of Homeland of Security (opposing counsel) argued that our client should not be bonded out because he previously received a negative credible fear determination and that the Immigration Judge from the same Courthouse refused to reverse it. After DHS (Department of Homeland Security) made that argument, the Immigration Judge allowed us to make our arguments in which we proceeded to explain to the Court the difficulty of getting such decisions reconsidered and reversed by USCIS. Furthermore, DHS argued that our client is a flight risk since he didn’t have any immediate family in the United States. We explained to the judge that our client may not have family ties, but we supplemented documentations remedying that issue. The judge agreed with our client and granted a bond in this case.

Our client is happy to finally be home. We know this case may have taken months, but we achieved the result our client was seeking from the beginning, the decision that was fair for the client and which the law supports.

If your family member or friend received a negative credible fear determination at the Tallahatchie County, Mississippi Detention Center or any detention center in the United States, you should contact our office at (601) 948-8005 or our 24-hour line at (601) 927-8430 to schedule an appointment.
Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. Immigration Team offers an array of Immigration legal services for clients in the Mississippi area such as adjustment of status, citizenship, green card, work permits, spousal cases, and deportation as well as asylum. Our Mississippi Immigration Attorneys are here to assist in Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, Criminal Cases, as well as Family Cases. Our legal team speaks English as well as Spanish and Punjabi. We have a combined 7 year legal experience handling immigration matters for the Mississippi area. You can also check out our CG Immigration Team Facebook page as well. Contact an Immigration Mississippi Attorney today, we are here for you.