SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The 9th Circuit withdrew its ruling that declared a Fresno couple eligible for asylum because the husband's former job as a Cambodian prison guard was "hardly integral to the persecution of prisoners."
The judges have withdrawn that opinion pending the Supreme Court's decision in Negusie v. Mukasey, involving the asylum eligibility of a similarly situated ex-prison guard in Eritrea. The 5th Circuit denied Daniel Negusie's petition for asylum on the basis that he assisted in inmate persecution, though he never injured them directly.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on Negusie's case by June 2009.
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