Cuban Immigrant Loses Asylum Appeal Despite Claims of Torture

A Cuban immigrant who’d allegedly been tortured for political reasons in his home country was properly denied asylum in the US, as substantial evidence supported an immigration judge’s conclusion that his claims weren’t credible, the Fourth Circuit said Thursday.

An adverse credibility determination is an “almost insurmountable” barrier to an asylum petition, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said. And Oscar Herrera-Alcala’s evidence of alleged threats to his safety contained too many omissions and inconsistencies to satisfy the high burden of proof required to overcome that barrier, it said.

The court also clarified that the Fourth Circuit ...