WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice has reinstated a 2020 opinion holding that individuals who participated in the persecution of others are barred from asylum in the United States, even if they acted under coercion or duress.
In a decision dated October 22, 2025, Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated a stay previously imposed on the Board of Immigration Appeals’ March 16, 2021, ruling in the case Matter of Negusie, 29 I&N Dec. 285 (A.G. 2025). As a result, the opinion issued by former Attorney General William Barr in Matter of Negusie, 28 I&N Dec. 120 (A.G. 2020), once again becomes binding.
The case involves a man who entered the U.S. as a stowaway in 2004 and was initially found ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal under the “persecutor bar” in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which disqualifies anyone who has participated in the persecution of others. Although the immigration judge granted deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the decision went through extensive appellate review.
In 2009, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Board, asking whether duress should factor into the persecutor bar. The Board later recognized a duress exception in 2018 but ruled that the applicant did not qualify for it. In 2020, Attorney General Barr reversed the Board, stating the statute does not include a duress exception. That interpretation now stands as controlling.
Under the reinstated 2020 opinion, immigration judges must apply the persecutor bar strictly. If evidence suggests an applicant assisted in persecution, that individual is ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal—even if they were coerced. The applicant bears the burden of proof to show the bar does not apply.
This decision applies nationwide and affects immigration proceedings involving asylum eligibility under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(2)(A)(i) and 1231(b)(3)(B)(i).
