Amicus Brief: Matter of R-K-

Board of Immigration Appeals: Human Rights First filed an amicus brief addressing whether an asylum seeker who was kidnapped by a terrorist organization and forced to pay the organization money for his own ransom can be barred from asylum on the theory that his ransom payment constituted “material support” to the terrorist organization. The Immigration Judge in this case recognized that the asylum seeker acted under coercion, but held that the “material support” statute barred from protection even refugees who acted under duress. The Board of Immigration Appeals requested supplemental briefing on this issue, and Human Rights First filed this brief in support of the asylum applicant. The brief was prepared by Anwen Hughes, staff attorney in the Refugee Protection Program, and law student intern Theodore Roethke (Columbia Law School 2008).