Matter of Rodriguez-Majano
Board of Immigration Appeals
19 I & N Dec. 811 (1988)
Rodriguez-Majano (petitioner), a Salvadoran truck driver, was forced by guerrilla fighters to carry supplies for them, later forced to help transport supplies to a battle site and carry fighters away from the city, then kidnapped and forcibly conscripted into the guerrillas' ranks, receiving military training and covering for them while they burned cars and went on propaganda trips without personally harming anyone. After fleeing the group and reaching the United States, he faced deportation proceedings, and an immigration judge found he had engaged in the persecution of others, making him ineligible for asylum and withholding of deportation; he appealed to the Board.
Whether an alien who provided support to an armed opposition group fighting a civil war is considered to have engaged in persecution when the group forcibly conscripted members and regularly committed acts of violence.