By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 7, 2014//
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Civil
Immigration – asylum — Bulgaria
Where there is no pattern or practice of mistreatment of the Roma people in Bulgaria, asylum was properly denied.
“In Mitreva, we were also faced with a Roma asylum-seeker from Bulgaria. The conditions on the ground for the Bulgarian Roma then were similar to what they are now. There is no doubt that the Roma are victims of pervasive discrimination in employment, education, health care, and housing, and are occasionally the targets of violence. See U.S. Dep’t of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, Bulgaria, at 24–26 (2013), available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/220473.pdf. But there is no indication that the Bulgarian government sanctions this conduct. Id.; Mitreva, 417 F.3d at 766. If any-thing, State Department reports indicate that anti-Roma violence has declined since Mitreva was decided in 2005, even as discrimination remains widespread. See U.S. Dep’t of State, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Bulgaria, at 23 (2010), available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/160182.pdf. In short, there is no reason for us to find a pattern of persecution of the Roma in Bulgaria in 2014 where there was none in 2005.”
Petition Denied.
On Petition for Review of a Final Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, Flaum, J.