Honors College Theses
Publication Date
2025
Major
Political Science (B.A.)
Release Option
Restricted to Georgia Southern
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Maureen Stobb
Abstract
Asylum law within the United States provides an avenue for protection of refugees who are fleeing their country of origin due to risks to their life or freedom. According to U.S. law, a refugee is someone who is persecuted based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. At the level of the U.S. Court of Appeals, a positive outcome for an asylum applicant involves the Court of Appeals determining they have jurisdiction to consider the case and ordering a remand back to a lower court to review and re-decide the case based on their guidance. Yet, there is limited research about the impacts of different claims of persecution on determinations of jurisdiction and remand. Using a sample of 100 asylum cases with judicial review questions decided by the U.S. Courts of Appeals, I demonstrated how different persecution claims impacted an asylum case’s likelihood of receiving judicial review and remand. The results of this research demonstrate the positive and negative influences of different persecution claims on judicial review and remand outcomes.
Thesis Summary
Asylum law within the United States provides an avenue for protection of refugees who are fleeing their country of origin due to risks to their life or freedom. According to U.S. law, a refugee is someone who is persecuted based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. At the level of the U.S. Court of Appeals, a positive outcome for an asylum applicant involves the Court of Appeals determining they have jurisdiction to consider the case and ordering a remand back to a lower court to review and re-decide the case based on their guidance. Yet, there is limited research about the impacts of different claims of persecution on determinations of jurisdiction and remand. Using a sample of 100 asylum cases with judicial review questions decided by the U.S. Courts of Appeals, I demonstrated how different persecution claims impacted an asylum case’s likelihood of receiving judicial review and remand. The results of this research demonstrate the positive and negative influences of different persecution claims on judicial review and remand outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Morea, Genevieve L., "The Influence of Grounds of Persecution in Asylum Cases on the U.S. Courts of Appeals" (2025). Honors College Theses. 1061.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/1061
