Driver v. Helms

I agree with the majority that this case must be affirmed; however, I reach this conclusion through different analysis and, therefore, I concur in the result only.

The parties have brought to us the question whether the Board of Immigration Appeals is permitted to apply its own definition of “persecution” or is required to adopt our more expansive reading of that term suggested by the Kovac dicta. The majority avoids resolving this question by asserting that Moghanian would not prevail under either standard. In my view, the Kovac language is sufficiently expansive that if we were to impose…