Stay Granted To Pursue Asylum Claim For Deaf Child

The Third Circuit does not report stays on its web site, but newspapers report that the Third Circuit on June 14, 2006 granted a stay of deportation to permit a family to seek asylum on a ground they tried to raise in a motion to reopen with the BIA -- their nine-year old son who is severely deaf would suffer persecution because of his disability if returned to Indonesia. The Third Circuit concluded the family showed some likelihood of success on the merits of the case. Now they will have time to prepare the full case and have an asylum hearing. Newspapers report that the immigrants' attorney is Joseph Hohenstein and Asian Americans United is helping support the family.

There is some basis to argue that mistreatment due to a disability may qualify for asylum. For example, in Tchoukhrova v. Gonzales, 404 F.3d 1181 (9th Cir 2005), a child born with cerebral palsy who suffered abuse due to his disability in Russia qualified for asylum.