Second Circuit to Immigration Judge: If you deny asylum, you must give legally sufficient reasons for the denial.

In an unpublished decision (Madaminova v. Holder, Sept. 25, 2009), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has put their foot down ruling that an Immigration Judge must give sufficient reasons for denying an application for asylum, and may not simply just say no.

The Court ruled that conclusory determinations regarding incidents an asylum applicant describes in their application for asylum are insufficient, and that the Immigration Court must explain why it is denying the asylum application.

The Court further ruled that the Immigration Judge must identify the legal standard relied upon in assessing whether the testified experience constitutes persecution, must consider the cumulative effect of an asylum applicant’s experiences as opposed to assessing them in isolation, and may not simply state that the past described incidents simply do not rise to the level of persecution.

Although this case does not have binding precedential effect on other cases arising out of the Second Circuit, it sends a message to Immigration Judges that you can’t just say “no” without explaining your answer thereby precluding an asylum applicant from seeking meaningful judicial review of the denial.