Do I Need to Pin a Target to My Back?: The Definition of 'Particular Social Group' in U.S. Asylum Law

Abstract

In U.S. asylum, there are significant differences among the federal circuit courts' approaches to defining "particular social group". These differences come from the circuit courts' use of different legal tests to define "particular social group". The different approaches to defining PSG have led to a circuit split between the Seventh Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and the circuit courts that follow the Board of Immigration Appeals. This Note analyzes the definition of PSG in asylum law, and examines the various tests that different circuit courts use to define PSG.