Deportation of Bay Area man seeking political asylum is blocked

A federal appeals court has blocked the deportation of a Bay Area man who fled his native India after being attacked by a religious group he had refused to join.

Harbans Singh, a landowner in northern India, left in 2011 after being pursued and beaten by members of the Dera Sacha Sauda religion. Now in his early 30s and living in Solano County, he applied for political asylum, saying he would face religious persecution if deported to his homeland.

An immigration judge ruled against Singh, saying his attackers were trying to seize his land and not to persecute him. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Tuesday that Singh had presented at least some evidence of persecution.

“It appears from the record that the ... attackers were at least partly motivated by Singh’s religion and political affiliation, particularly because Singh’s refusal to join the (Dera Sacha Sauda) was inherently an act of religious expression,” the three-judge panel said.

Because “the record seems to compel a finding that Singh’s religion was at least a reason for his persecution,” he appears to be eligible for withholding of deportation, the court said. That would allow him to remain in the United States unless the immigration courts find that he could safely return to another part of India.

The court said Singh may also be eligible for asylum, which would require him to prove that he is likely to be persecuted again if deported. He could then apply for legal residency, the first step toward possible U.S. citizenship.

Dera Sacha Sauda was founded in 1948 by former Sikhs and Hindus and is based in northern India.

Anna Benvenue, a lawyer for Singh, said she was optimistic that he would be allowed to remain in the United States.

“It’s a great decision for religious freedom,” she said.