Withholding of removal is provided to a person who can establish that, upon ejection from the United States, the person’s “life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
Withholding of removal will prevent the applicant from being removed to the country where his/her life would be threatened; however, upon successful approval of the applicant’s petition, the applicant can still be removed to a third country. Unlike claims for asylum, there is a mandatory prohibition against removal if such evidence is provided to the court.
A successful withholding of removal application does not permit the applicant to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States, nor does it allow the successful applicant to bring his/her family to the United States. This status also does not apply derivatively to any spouse/child included on the application; such family members have to apply for their own protective status.
Applicants ineligible for this protection include a person who has: engaged in Nazism or genocide, ordered or assisted in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group or political opinion, committed a serious crime which makes him/her a danger to the U.S. community, or if there are other reasonable grounds to believe the alien is a danger to the security of the U.S.
