Appeals Board Restricts Asylum for Certain Gender-Based Persecution Claims
Sex alone cannot be a ‘particular social group’, says BIA
By Elizabeth Jacobs on August 25, 2025
Summary
The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a ruling in Matter of K-E-S-G- that bars sex or gender alone (or sex or gender plus nationality; e.g., “Salvadoran women”) groups from being cognizable “particular social groups” for the purpose of asylum eligibility, holding that such group formulations are “overbroad” and therefore not sufficiently “particular” to meet the Board’s standards.
Specifically, the Board of Immigration Appeals also found that “Salvadoran women viewed as property” also was not sufficiently particular to be a cognizable “particular social group”.
The size and diversity of a group is not determinative for whether a group is a cognizable “particular social group”.
The Board of Immigration Appeals did not analyze other legal issues that are often present in domestic-violence-based asylum claims. These issues include: “nexus”, the “unwilling or unable” standard, and whether internal relocation is reasonably available.
The United States, with Matter of K-E-S-G-, is departing from the European Union’s approach of recognizing sex- and gender-based particular social groups.
While the ruling will significantly restrict asylum grants from applicants who make sex- or gender-based persecution claims, it still leaves the door open for similar particular social groups with adequately “narrowing features”.
https://cis.org/Report/Appeals-Board-Restricts-Asylum-Certain-GenderBased-Persecution-Claims
