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Second Circuit Review: Asylum: The Sufficiency of Death Threats in Proving Past Persecution
July 30, 2024
Litigation of counsel Martin Flumenbaum and firm Chairman Brad Karp’s latest Second Circuit Review column, “Asylum: The Sufficiency of Death Threats in Proving Past Persecution,” appeared in the July 30 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss a recent decision in which the Second Circuit unanimously rejected a per se rule that an asylum applicant who has received death threats has demonstrated past persecution. Instead, in line with Second Circuit precedent, the panel held that an asylum applicant seeking to demonstrate past persecution based on unfulfilled death threats must show that there were aggravating circumstances suggesting the threat was imminent, concrete or extremely menacing such that the threat itself caused actual harm. Asylum applicants and their counsel should ensure that they introduce evidence of any aggravating circumstances surrounding death threats when seeking to support an asylum claim based on those threats. Litigation associate Jake Kramer assisted in the preparation of this column.
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