Matter of Mogharrabi, 19 I&N Dec. 439, 445 (BIA 1987), Decided by Board June 12, 1987, Held:
(1)In INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987), the United States Supreme Court held that the "clear probability" of persecution standard employed for withholding of deportation under section 243 (h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h) (1982), does not converge with, and may not be equated with, the "well-founded fear" of persecution standard used for asylum under section 208, 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (1982). Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211 (BIA 1985), is therefore overruled insofar as it held that the two standards were not meaningfully different, and in practical application converged.
(2)The well-founded fear of persecution standard used in section 208 of the Act is significantly different from the clear probability standard used in section 243 (h).
(3)An applicant for asylum under section 208 of the Act has established a well-founded fear if a reasonable person in his circumstances would fear persecution.
(4)A reasonable person may well fear persecution even where its likelihood is significantly less than clearly probable.
(5)An alien's own testimony in an asylum case may be sufficient, without corroborative evidence, to prove a well-founded fear of persecution where that testimony is believable, consistent, and sufficiently detailed to provide a plausible and coherent account of the basis for his fear.
(6)Matter of Acosta's requirement that an applicant for asylum show, inter alia, that the potential persecutor "could easily become aware" that the applicant possesses a belief or characteristic the persecutor seeks to overcome by some punishment is changed by omitting the word "easily."
The surviving "test" factors:
(1) the alien possesses a belief or characteristic a persecutor seeks to overcome in others by means of punishment of some sort;
(2) the persecutor is already aware, or could become aware, that the alien possesses this belief or characteristic;
(3) the persecutor has the capability of punishing the alien; and
(4) the persecutor has the inclination to punish the alien.
Hopefully, your attorney has addressed their concerns sufficiently. Good Luck.