On October 4th, the BIA remanded a decison denying asylum relief for a Thai national convicted of methamphetamine smuggling.  After serving her U.S. sentence, the individual feared that she would be prosecuted and imprisoned in Thailand if returned.  Conditions in Thail jails have been found to be life threatening.  The BIA remanded on the basis that the IJ did not consider expert testimony and evidence of prison conditions in Thailand.  The BIA declined to find that the IJ applied an improper standard of “clear probability” in determining CAT relief.  Nevertheless, the BIA stated that on remand the IJ “should clearly delineate the difference between his understanding of ‘possible’ and ‘more likely than not’….”

V-V-, AXXX XXX X78 (BIA Oct. 4, 2013) by Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center