The recent increase in the number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) apprehended at the border between Mexico and the United States has raised questions about the role that gang-related violence in Central America may play in determining eligibility for refugee status and asylum. Refugee status and asylum are two forms of discretionary relief that could enable UACs to enter or remain in the United States, and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) relies upon the same definition in determining eligibility for both. Applicants for refugee status are also barred from appealing denials of their applications, while applicants for asylum are not. It also discusses how key elements of the INA's definition of refugee have been construed and applied in gang-related asylum cases. Among other things, the Refugee Act amended Section 101(a)(42) of the INA to define refugee in largely the same terms used by the Convention and Protocol: 
The term "refugee" means ... any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Instead, their meaning has been determined by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)—the highest administrative tribunal for interpreting and applying immigration law—through case-by-case adjudication, with the federal courts generally deferring to the BIA's interpretation so long as it is based on a "permissible construction" of the INA. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the REAL ID Act of 2005 ( P.L. 109-13 ), which amended the INA to require that a protected ground (e.g., race, religion, nationality) "was or will be at least one central reason" for the persecution. There, the BIA characterized persecution as 
[t]he infliction of suffering or harm, under government sanction, upon persons who differ in a way regarded as offensive (e.g., race, religion, political opinion, etc. ), in a manner condemned by civilized governments. If such toleration, or unwillingness or inability to control, is found, the BIA and the federal courts may recognize harm arising to the level of persecution. "Well-Founded Fear"

A showing of past persecution gives rise to a rebuttable presumption that the alien has a well-founded fear of future persecution. The regulations do not define what is meant by a reasonable possibility of persecution. A well-founded fear of persecution has been found to be lacking in some gang-related asylum cases, often in cases where past harms are not viewed as persecution. However, such fear can be seen as unreasonable in light of the circumstances. "On Account of"

The refugee definition's proviso that the persecution be "on account of" a protected ground has been construed to require that there be a "nexus" between the harm that the alien has incurred or fears and the alien's race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. A central reason has been construed to mean a reason that is more than "incidental, tangential, superficial, or subordinate to another reason for harm." Especially since the BIA's decision in Matter of C-A- , these claims have generally failed, in part, because the various social groups articulated by individual aliens are seen as lacking social visibility and/or particularity. Persons Resistant to Gang Recruitment

In a number of cases, courts have upheld the denial of asylum to aliens based on their purported membership in particular social groups made up of persons who are targeted for or resist gang recruitment, generally because the courts view the proposed group as lacking both social visibility (now, distinction) and/or particularity.
The recent increase in the number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) apprehended at the border between Mexico and the United States has raised questions about the role that gang-related violence in Central America may play in determining whether such children are eligible for refugee status and asylum. Only aliens who are "refugees," as that term is defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), qualify for potential refugee status or asylum (two forms of discretionary relief that could enable UACs to enter or remain in the United States).
The INA's definition, in turn, generally encompasses individuals outside their home country who are unable or unwilling to return to that country because of "persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion." However, key terms within this definition—including persecution and particular social group—are not defined by statute or regulation. Instead, they have been construed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the highest administrative tribunal for interpreting and applying immigration law, through a process of case-by-case adjudication, with the federal courts generally deferring to the BIA's interpretation insofar as it is based on a "permissible construction" of the INA. These cases center upon eligibility for asylum, because denials of applications for refugee status cannot be appealed. Denials of asylum by immigration judges in the course of formal removal proceedings, in contrast, may be appealed to the BIA and the federal courts of appeals.
Persecution has been construed to mean the infliction of harm by the government, or an entity the government is unable or unwilling to control, "upon persons who differ in a way regarded as offensive ..., in a manner condemned by civilized governments." A showing of past persecution establishes a rebuttable presumption that the alien has a well-founded fear of future persecution. Otherwise, aliens must prove they subjectively fear persecution, and there is a "reasonable possibility" they would suffer persecution if returned to their home country. Such a "reasonable possibility" can exist when there is less than a 50% chance of the occurrence taking place. This persecution must also be "on account of" a protected ground (e.g., race). The REAL ID Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-13) amended the INA to require that a protected ground "was or will be at least one central reason" for the persecution. However, central reason has been construed to mean a reason that is more than "incidental, tangential, superficial, or subordinate to another reason," not as the only or primary reason. Most protected grounds (i.e., race, religion, nationality, political opinion) are fairly straightforward in their definition, if not in their application in specific cases. Particular social group, however, has been construed in various ways by the BIA over the years.
When considered by the BIA or appellate courts in light of how the INA's definition of refugee is construed, claims to asylum based on gang-related violence frequently (although not inevitably) fail. In some cases, this is because the harm experienced or feared by the alien is seen not as persecution, but as generalized lawlessness or criminal activity. In other cases, persecution has been found to be lacking because governmental ineffectiveness in controlling the gangs is distinguished from inability or unwillingness to control them. In yet other cases, any persecution that is found is seen as lacking the requisite connection to a protected ground, and instead arising from activities "typical" to gangs, such as extortion and recruitment of new members. The particular social group articulated by the alien (e.g., former gang members, recruits) may also been seen as lacking a "common, immutable characteristic," social visibility (now, social distinction), or particularity.