Slyusar v. Holder

Slyusar worked as a social worker in Ukraine. She joined a private organization and agreed to record unlawful non-cash pensions distributed by her office. She reported pension fraud, identifying officials by name. Slyusar took the report to a radio station. After it broadcasted the report, Slyusar received threats to her life and her children’s lives. She claimed that at one point, she was taken to a police station, where people screamed at her and ordered her to sign papers confessing to slander, then disrobed and beat her. They allegedly placed Slyusar in a cell, where she was raped by three men. She claims she was poisoned during her week in prison. Slyusar’s husband was living in the U.S., caring for his grandmother. Although she claims to have been in hiding, she divorced her husband after her release. She claims a second detention and beating, after which she was hospitalized. She fled to the U.S., using a Russian passport as Julia Pusharova. She married a citizen and applied for adjustment of status; DHS initiated removal. An IJ denied asylum and withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, finding discrepancies between her testimony and the evidence. Slyusar’s asylum application was not timely filed and she failed to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances. The BIA dismissed an appeal. The Sixth Circuit denied review. View "Slyusar v. Holder" on Justia Law