Re-Defining Particular Social Group in the United States: Looking to International Guidance in the Wake of the Matter of A-B- Vacatur
Re-Defining Particular Social Group in the United States: Looking to International Guidance in the Wake of the Matter of A-B- Vacatur
Abstract: Undefined in both the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Refugee Act of 1980, the phrase “particular social group,” one of the five protected grounds for asylum, has been subject to various interpretations which have rendered US asylum law unpredictable, inconsistent, and incompatible with international refugee law. On June 16, 2021 Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated Matter of A-B- I, a Trump-era asylum decision which significantly narrowed the definition of particular social group, and also restricted relief for many individuals seeking refuge from life-threatening persecution. Though a step in the right direction toward more equitable and consistent asylum law in the United States, the vacatur of this decision returned US particular social group jurisprudence to pre-AB- precedent, leaving longstanding problems unaddressed. This Note argues that the United States must abandon pre-A-B- precedent to ensure lasting change. Rather than reinvent the wheel, this Note examines asylum procedures in Canada and Australia, both of which are common law nations that receive an amount of asylum applications that is comparable to the United States and, unlike the United States, possess UNHCR-endorsed definitions of particular social group. Ultimately, this Note argues that the Australian approach may provide a realistic and workable means to address US problems.
Recommended Citation: Grace Carney, Re-Defining Particular Social Group in the United States: Looking to International Guidance in the Wake of the Matter of A-B- Vacatur, 45 Fordham Int'l L.J. 575 (2022).