Jamaican Lesbian Denied Asylum

A Federal appeals court in Philadelphia has denied the asylum claims of Jamaican lesbian Marcia Forrester, despite widespread violence and persecution of lesbians in Jamaica. The court wrote that "notwithstanding Forrester's obvious masculinity and lesbian status, she failed to offer any evidence that she was tortured or arrested on any of her four visits to Jamaica."

Forrester had won her asylum claim in front of an Immigration Judge, but the government appealed. The Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the Immigration Judge's decision and denied asylum. The federal court was the last place she could turn before facing deportation. Unfortunately, the standard for overturning a decision of the BIA is often insurmountable.