Under Threat of Death, Petitioner & Former Police Officer has Appeal Approved for US Asylum
When the US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejected former Columbian police officer Edier de Jesus Rodriguez Bedoya’s application for asylum, the ominous death threats kept coming. Bedoya and his family had arrived in the US legally in 2013 and applied for asylum.
The now-retired Colombian law officer had spent his life fighting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), an organization founded in 1964 that combined both traditional and terroristic methods such as bombings. But retirement doesn’t exist in the life-and-death battle between FARC and Columbian law enforcement, so another three death threats were slid under Bedoya’s door or sent via text.
Even with four explicit death threats, BIA denied Bedoya’s request for asylum. But as a growing number of claims for appeal are being denied, a little holiday magic happened on Wednesday: Bodeya’s appeal was approved.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Bodeya was denied his asylum by the BIA wrongfully since their written decision stated that four death threats against him and his family did not establish “persecution.”
The unanimous decision by the three justices who approved the appeal included clear language that a death threat is indeed a qualification for asylum.
"As we have repeatedly explained, a threat of death qualifies as past persecution," Judge Robert King. The letters and texts, he notes, make the point clear that FARC would kill Bodeya, and that the "meaning is plain and unambiguous.”
Under the Trump administration, the outgoing president often shared false information as he sought to denigrate immigrants, including that asylum seekers get a ‘free pass into by lodging meritless claims.”
The asylum approval rate for 2020 immigration courts fell by 37 percent since 2016 and is currently lower than 40 percent of the average rate of approval during both Presidents Bush and Obama’s terms.
The immigration courts’ rulings have decreased the percentage of asylum seekers' approval for asylum by 50 percent since 2019.
For Bedoya, the approval of his appeal means he can begin to feel safe with his wife and children.
As some of the frightening messages from FARC warned him, "Doesn't matter how much you hide, we will hunt you. And if not, we will catch one of your children and let's see if you appear. Including the daughter you have in Medellin.”
Other immigrants who have been denied asylum by the BIA after receiving death threats are expected to successfully appeal.
