9th Circuit Faults Immigration Judge For Assumptions About Religious Group

In Cosa v. Mukasey, (9th Cir., Sept. 15, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated an adverse credibility finding by an Immigration Judge and remanded for further proceedings an asylum petition by a woman who claimed she suffered religious persecution in Romania. Petitioner Adriana Cosa claimed she suffered persecution because she practiced the Millenist faith. The immigration judge, unfamiliar with Millenism, did her own research on the religion. The Court of Appeals said that the immigration judge then wrongly "discounted Cosa's credibility based on the IJ’s conjectural view of how a Millenist should act and think." KPIX-TV reported on the decision yesterday.