Oakland man given 2nd chance for asylum to stay in US

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Jose Mendez was 13 and living in El Salvador, the child of a pro-government family during a civil war more than a quarter century ago, when he got three threatening notes at school accusing him of feeding information to the army, in which his brothers were serving. His pastor advised him to move out of his home or leave the country.

Mendez started sleeping in a different home each night, but one night guerrillas knocked on the door. He climbed through a back window and fled, but was shot in the arm by his pursuers. He managed to escape and left for the United States, arriving in July 1990 and settling in Oakland, where two of his brothers were living.

Five years later, Mendez applied for political asylum, saying he faced persecution and possibly death if he was deported. His case lingered in the system for more than 15 years before immigration courts ruled against him, finding that he had not been a victim of persecution. As the Board of Immigration Appeals put it, he had not shown he was “individually targeted” by the guerrillas.

On Tuesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed the board’s ruling and reinstated Mendez’s asylum case.

“A reasonable fact-finder would have to conclude that Mendez was individually targeted, because he was individually threatened, individually chased, and individually shot by his persecutors,” the three-judge panel said in a brief, unanimous ruling.

For that reason, the court said, “Mendez is entitled to the presumption that his life or freedom would be threatened if he returned to El Salvador.” The court returned the case to the immigration board, where Justice Department lawyers could offer evidence that Mendez would not be harmed if deported.

The ruling means Mendez, who lives with his wife and four children, born in the United States, has a good chance of winning asylum and the right to remain in the country, said his lawyer, Charles Nichol.

The evidence cited by the court showed “he was indeed targeted for persecution and that the level of harm he suffered rose to the level that would be required for a grant of asylum,” Nichol said. “I don’t know what would be a greater form of persecution than being shot.”

The 12-year civil war between leftist guerrillas and El Salvador’s U.S.-backed military government ended with a peace agreement in 1992. Although conditions have changed since the time Mendez fled, Nichol said, he could still face threats to his life in the Central American nation, and may also be entitled to asylum based on the politically motivated harm he suffered at a young age.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko

The ruling can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2bDj6Jj