criminal justice 242
John Smith has just arrived in New York from China. He is seeking asylum on his well-founded fear that the Chinese government is persecuting him because he is a member of the Uighur ethnic minority which practices Islam and opposes the Communist Party of China.
The Chinese government has a different story. They say John is wanted for murder because he bombed an airliner and that he uses Xinjiang time instead of Beijing time.
John’s friends in the U.S. have discovered that the airliner he supposedly bombed is still flying and that the passengers who were “killed” are still alive. They do not dispute that John and other Uighurs have fought with the Taliban against the U.S. in Afghanistan, but say John was only fighting with the side he thought was right.
What steps will John have to take to apply for asylum? What administrative process will be used? Will he be successful? Why? What arguments would you make on John’s behalf? How about against him?
