U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey today requesting him to review a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision regarding the subjection of women to female genital mutilation (FGM). The BIA ruled that while the threat of FGM is grounds for asylum, those who have already fallen victim to FGM are not eligible for future asylum, ignoring the real ongoing effects that victims of FGM are faced with for the remainder of their lives.
"The rationale behind the BIA's decision fails to protect against this particularly heinous form of gender-based persecution and ignores the physical and psychological effects that harm that awaits women subjected to this horrifying practice in their home countries," Senator Snowe said. "Women who have fallen victim to FGM should not be forced to exist in an environment where they are vulnerable to further persecution."
"The decision Matter of A-T- addresses the plight of a woman who was subjected to female genital mutilation and will nearly certainly face ongoing trauma and abuse if deported," Senator Levin said. "I'm hopeful that Attorney General Mukasey will personally review the decision and reverse course. The United States needs to speak loudly against this abhorrent practice and against gender-based persecution."