WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The U.S. attorney general is trying to prevent immigration authorities from sending a Muslim woman to her home country , where she was a victim of female genital mutilation . Attorney General Michael Mukasey ordered an immigration court to reconsider an African woman 's case . In a stinging order overriding federal immigration courts , Mukasey blasted a decision that said a 28-year-old citizen and native of Mali should be expelled `` because her genitalia already had been mutilated [ so ] she had no basis to fear future persecution if returned to her home country . '' Calling the rationale `` flawed , '' Mukasey sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals with orders to reconsider . The woman , a native of Mali , begged the court not to send her back to her Bambara tribe . The 28-year-old said if she returned and had a daughter , the child also would be subject to mutilation . The woman also said she faced forced marriage if she had to go home . Mukasey cited what he concluded were two significant factual errors in the court 's rejection of her appeal . `` Female genital mutilation is not necessarily a one-time event , '' Mukasey said . He noted that the board in a previous case had granted asylum in to one woman whose `` vaginal opening was sewn shut approximately five times after being opened to allow for sexual intercourse and child birth . '' He also concluded that the Board of Immigration Appeals was wrong to assume that the woman `` must fear persecution in exactly the same form [ namely , repeat female genital mutilation ] to qualify for relief . '' Mukasey had been urged to look into the matter by angered members of Congress in the wake of the January decision . `` This recent action taken by the Board of Immigration Appeals is a step backward for the rights of women worldwide , '' declared Rep. John Conyers , D-Michigan , in a January letter . `` Female genital mutilation is a gross violation of a woman 's human rights and has traditionally been grounds for the granting of an asylum claim , '' Rep. Zoe Lofgren , D-California , said in the letter . Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy , D-Vermont , issued a statement applauding Mukasey 's action , and declaring female genital mutilation a `` barbaric practice widely regarded as a human rights abuse . '' The Justice Department acknowledged it is extraordinarily rare for an attorney general to jump into a relatively low-level immigration case . The immigration courts decide about 40,000 cases a year , and an attorney general has issued an opinion on a case only three times in the past three years . Female genital mutilation is common in parts of Africa , Asia and in some Arab countries , according to the United Nations . The operation is viewed by some ethnic groups as a means to control a woman 's sexuality and is sometimes a prerequisite for marriage or the right to inherit . The procedure can cause tissue injury , severe infection and fever , among other complications . The U.N. has recorded cases in which hemorrhaging and infection lead to death .
Court ruled that because woman already had surgery , she should not get married . In rare move , Attorney General said court 's ruling was ` ` flawed '' . Mukasey ordered court to reconsider its ruling . Mali woman said she thought any child she had would be subject to surgery .