Marikasi v. Lynch

Marikasi, a citizen of Zimbabwe, legally entered the U.S. in 2002 on a non-immigrant visitor’s visa with an expiration date of July 18, 2002. On November 25, 2002, Marikasi sought asylum and withholding of removal. She referred to an abusive husband and did not check the box provided for “political opinion” as a reason for seeking asylum, but instead checked “nationality” and “membership in a particular group.” The only organization she mentioned was the Musasa Project for battered women. A 2005 amended application stated that her husband was a government agent and that she had been abused by members of the leading (ZANU PF) party “because I belonged to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [the opposition]. My brother was brutalized and killed in 2002 by ZANU PF members because of my political activities.” The BIA affirmed denial of her petition and ordered removal. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Important factual inconsistencies between Marikasi’s asylum application and her testimony supported an adverse credibility determination. Marikasi did not present sufficient corroborative evidence to rehabilitate her discredited testimony or independently satisfy her burden of proof. Marikasi failed to prove that she could not leave the relationship or that she could not relocate to another part of Zimbabwe. View "Marikasi v. Lynch" on Justia Law