Gaitan v. Holder
Petition for certiorari denied on October 29, 2012
Issue: Whether, for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act, under which a non-citizen can qualify as a “refugee” (and therefore be eligible for asylum) if he is unwilling or unable to return to his country of origin “because of . . . a well-founded fear of persecution on account of . . . membership in a particular social group,” the Board of Immigration Appeals' new definition of “particular social group” – which requires those seeking asylum to prove that their group possesses “social visibility” and “particularity” – is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), or
unreasonable under Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural
Resources Defense Council, Inc..