Michael B. Mukasey
Respondent
Gregory G. Garre, U.S. Solicitor General Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980 to conform U.S. asylum standards with the international standards contained in the 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and to help the Nation deal with political and religious dissidents and detainees around the world. Under the Act, aliens who demonstrate a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion are eligible for asylum. Congress excluded from eligibility any alien who had “ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of…
