Victorious Sexual Orientation Asylum Claim

The S.F. Chronicle (here) reports that an immigration judge who previously denied a gay man’s asylum bid on the grounds that he could conceal his sexual orientation if he returned to his native Mexico reversed the decision Tuesday. In allowing Jorge Sota Vega to remain in the United States, Judge John D. Taylor said that gays should not be required to dress or act a certain way to avoid persecution and that Vega’s lawyers proved he would be at risk if he were deported to Mexico. Now a New York resident, Vega appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit found that the immigration court had placed too heavy a burden on Vega in proving his claim and remanded the case back to immigration court. Vega v. Gonzales, 183 Fed. Appx. 627; 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 14047 (9th Cir. 2006).

KJ