Gjura v. Holder

Ms. Gjura was denied asylum in 2011 in a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals that found “young, unmarried Albanian women” did not constitute a particular social group. CGRS submitted an amicus brief urging the court to reconsider this decision. While the Second Circuit still denied relief on other grounds, the court withdrew its negative published decision on the social group issue.

CGRS Involvement

CGRS filed an amicus brief in support of Ms. Gjura’s request that the Second Circuit Court reconsider its decision; the court accepted CGRS’s brief and withdrew its published decision.

Basic Facts

Before fleeing to the United States in 2004, Ms. Gjura was targeted twice by kidnappers in Albania who she believes were attempting to force her into prostitution. The first attack occurred in 2002 when she was going with her aunt to the store and three masked men got out of a car and grabbed her. They eventually let her go when people from the store noticed and began to scream. Fearing forced prostitution, she relocated to a cousin’s house in another town where she remained virtually locked inside. In 2004, when Ms. Gjura, her sister and cousin were walking from a nearby town, they noticed a van driving quickly towards them. Fearing a similar situation to the one two years before, they ran to a neighbor’s house nearby and the men chasing them, again masked, eventually stopped their chase and returned to their van. Following these incidents, both Ms. Gjura’s sister and cousin were kidnapped and found dead in 2005. In all of these instances the police did not respond to requests for protection and information about the attackers.

Procedural History

Ms. Gjura entered the United States using a fraudulent passport in 2004.  She was referred to the Immigration Judge for an “asylum only” hearing.  In 2005, Ms. Gjura filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief.  She asserted that she would face persecution if forced to return to Albania because she feared the Albanian mafia’s further attempts to kidnap and force her into prostitution.  In 2008, the IJ granted Ms. Gjura asylum finding that she had a well-founded fear of persecution on account of her membership in a social group defined as “young, unmarried Albanian women.” 

Yet three years later in 2011, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the judge’s decision and denied asylum to Ms. Gjura.  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Board’s decision, finding, among other things, that “young, unmarried Albanian women” do not constitute a particular social group.  The BIA concluded that Gjura demonstrated neither a well-founded fear of being abducted into a prostitution ring nor eligibility for withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture relief. The decision was reviewed and while the Second Circuit upheld the decision, the court withdrew its published decision. The court’s new decision did not rule on the social group issue.  While the result does not help Ms. Gjura, who continues to explore her options for relief, it undoes what would have been a bad legal precedent for asylum seekers in the Second Circuit.

Legal Documents

2012 CGRS amicus brief to the Second Circuit seeking review of the BIA decision

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