Case: 18-60604 Document: 00515252562 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/30/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 18-60604 United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED MIKAILU JALLOH, also known as Mikailou Diallo, December 30, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Petitioner Clerk v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A209 991 615 Before KING, JONES, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* The petitioner in this case fled his home country after receiving death threats for writing a newspaper article calling for the abolition of female genital mutilation. An immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected his request for asylum, ruling that his opposition to female genital mutilation did not qualify as a political opinion and failing to analyze his argument that he had a well-founded fear of future persecution. Because * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 18-60604 Document: 00515252562 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/30/2019 No. 18-60604 this was error, we grant the petition in part and remand the case for further proceedings. I. A. Petitioner Mikailu Jalloh is a citizen of Sierra Leone who is seeking asylum in the United States. Jalloh fled Sierra Leone after a conflict with the Bondo, also known as the Sande, a powerful secret society in Sierra Leone that supports, perpetuates, and sometimes forcibly imposes female genital mutilation. The vast majority of women in Sierra Leone have experienced some form of genital mutilation. In October 2016, Jalloh’s girlfriend told him that the Bondo intended, against her will, to mutilate her. Jalloh, who occasionally wrote articles for a local newspaper, decided to investigate the Bondo and to write an article about them. In November 2016, after Jalloh had been conducting interviews about female genital mutilation, five members of the Bondo showed up at his house at dusk. They blamed Jalloh for his girlfriend’s aversion to them, and they threatened to kill him if he continued to interfere. Jalloh replied that he intended to expose them. Jalloh’s article about female genital mutilation and the Bondo was published in December 2016. The article, which ran under the headline “Abolish Female Genital Mutilation Now & Save Our Girls,” called on the “government to pass laws that totally abolish the practice in Sierra Leone.” The following week, a group of Bondo supporters carrying sticks and rocks came at night to Jalloh’s house and threatened to burn it down if he did not emerge. After Jalloh’s sister-in-law told the mob that Jalloh was not at home, they searched the house and, not finding him, told her that Jalloh was “a walking dead man.” Jalloh’s sister-in-law called Jalloh and informed him of what had transpired, and Jalloh immediately fled. 2 Case: 18-60604 Document: 00515252562 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/30/2019 No. 18-60604 B. ...
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