Ruling a boost for Guatemalans
A 9th Circuit Court of Appeal ruling could make many Guatemalans living in the United States eligible for permanent residency.
The Nov. 29 decision in Hugo Leonel Chaly-Garcia vs. the United States of America said that a Guatemalan man living in Oregon who applied for asylum in 1991 did not have to prove he separately registered for a settlement agreement in a related and successful class-action lawsuit.
Tens of thousands of Guatemalans fled their country’s 35-year civil war, which claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people. In recent years, the U.S. government has initiated deportation proceedings for many Guatemalans after belatedly rejecting their asylum applications.
The ruling affects Guatemalans who arrived by Oct. 1, 1990, and applied for asylum by the end of 1991.--
-- Anna Gorman
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