Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

After five years of waiting and arguing for religious asylum in front of American immigration officials and federal judges, two Jehovah's Witness from El Salvador finally found relief: Oscar Canas-Segovia married a U.S. citizen, receiving conditional residence status, and returned to El Salvador to receive his immigrant visa; Jose Canas-Segovia was awarded asylum based on the theory of imputed political opinion.' Their basic claim - that their refusal to comply with El Salvador's mandatory military draft, which does not exempt conscientious objectors, would result in their imprisonment or torture, thus entitling them to protection from religious persecution under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) - was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. On remand, the brothers' alternative argument, that the Salvadoran government would assume from their refusal to serve that they were "subversives," and subject them to extra-judicial sanctions including torture and death, 2 was accepted by the Ninth Circuit without an additional showing of government motive.

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