Kalaj v. Holder

The plaintiff-appellant, an Albanian citizen who entered the United States on a non-immigrant visa, fled her home country after facing three attempted kidnappings that she believed would have led her into forced prostitution. After escaping the third attempt, her uncle arranged for her to obtain a fake passport to enter the United States. After she applied for asylum with the Immigration and Nationalization Service, she was notified that she was subject to removal as an alien not in possession of valid entry documents. Both an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals denied her application for asylum. The Sixth Circuit affirmed these denials, finding that the plaintiff was unable to demonstrate that she was a member of a persecuted social group and unable to show that the Albanian government was unwilling or unable to protect her.

Topics

• Sexual violence and rape
• Trafficking in persons

Geographical location

• North America
• United States

Keywords

• asylum
• immigration
• particular social group
• well-founded fear of persecution
• forced prostitution

Year

• 2009

External URL

• Kalaj v. Holder

Court

• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• United States