What Qualifies As Persecution For Asylum In The U.S.?

Key Takeaways:

For asylum, persecution generally means serious harm or suffering that goes beyond harassment and is tied to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. U.S. law looks at severity, who caused the harm, and whether the government was involved or could not or would not protect you. Physical violence can qualify, but so can severe detention, threats, and extreme violations of basic rights when the harm is connected to a protected ground. Strong evidence and a consistent timeline help you prove both what happened and why it happened.

Leaving home because you’re scared for your life or your freedom is not a normal move. It’s survival. Asylum can offer protection in the United States, but the legal standard is specific. The government does not grant asylum for every dangerous situation, even when the danger is very real.

To qualify, you must show that you suffered persecution in the past or you have a well-founded fear of persecution in the future, and that the harm is connected to one of five protected grounds.

This guide explains what “persecution” means in U.S. asylum law, how the five protected grounds work, and what kinds of harm typically meet the standard.

The Legal Meaning Of Persecution

The Immigration and Nationality Act does not give a single-sentence definition of persecution, so asylum officers, immigration judges, and federal courts rely on guidance and case law. USCIS training materials explain that harm must rise above harassment and can include non-life-threatening violence, severe physical abuse, psychological harm, and serious human rights violations, depending on the facts.

In plain English, persecution usually involves serious harm such as:

• Physical violence, torture, rape, or severe assault.
• Unlawful detention, imprisonment, or forced “disappearances.”
• Credible threats of death or serious injury.
• Extreme restrictions on basic rights, like being barred from work, education, medical care, or the ability to practice your faith, when the impact is severe and targeted.

Persecution Is Not The Same As Hardship

Many countries struggle with poverty, corruption, and crime. Those conditions can be terrifying, but asylum focuses on whether you were targeted for a protected reason.

Examples that often do not qualify by themselves:

• General crime in your area, with no protected-ground targeting.
• Economic hardship affecting large parts of the country.
• Fear based only on instability or low public safety.

A case can still work when crime and instability are part of the background, but the legal analysis turns on targeting, severity, and the protected ground.

Who Must Be Causing The Harm?

Persecution can be committed by:

• The government (police, military, officials).
• Private actors (gangs, militias, family members, partners), if the government is unable or unwilling to control them.

That second part is very important. In many asylum claims, the hardest evidence is not proving the harm itself. It’s proving the lack of protection.

The Five Protected Grounds For Asylum

To win asylum, you must connect the persecution to at least one protected ground: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. This comes from the refugee definition in U.S. law and is also echoed in immigration court resources.

Race

Race-based persecution can include violence, threats, and systemic targeting of a racial or ethnic group. It can also include patterns of official discrimination that become severe enough to take away safety, freedom, or the ability to live a normal life.

Religion

Religious persecution can look like:

• Punishment for practicing your faith.
• Being forced to convert.
• Arrests or attacks tied to worship, dress, holidays, or religious expression.
• Bans on worship that lead to severe consequences.

Nationality

Nationality can mean citizenship, national origin, ethnic identity, or a group a society treats as a “national” category. These cases often involve minorities who face targeted attacks, exclusion, or state hostility.

Political Opinion

Political opinion includes what you believe, what you say, and sometimes what a persecutor thinks you believe. Some people are targeted for protesting, joining a party, reporting corruption, or refusing to support an armed group.

Membership In A Particular Social Group

This category is broad, but it’s also one of the most complex. Courts look closely at how the group is defined and whether it is recognized in a meaningful way in society.

Examples that may fit in some cases:

• Family-based groups (your last name can matter).
• Sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Gender-based claims.
• Past experiences that mark you in society, depending on the law in your jurisdiction and the facts of your case.

Because this area is technical, we treat “social group” analysis like a legal drafting project. The words matter.

Examples Of Harm That May Qualify As Persecution

Asylum is fact-specific. There’s no checklist that guarantees approval. Still, certain patterns show up often in successful claims.

Physical Violence Or Torture

Beatings, sexual assault, torture, and targeted attacks are strong indicators of persecution when tied to a protected ground, especially when the government is the attacker or refuses to intervene. USCIS guidance recognizes that many forms of physical harm and abuse can meet the persecution standard.

Unlawful Detention Or Imprisonment

Detention without due process, politically motivated arrests, or imprisonment aimed at silencing someone can qualify, especially when conditions include abuse, forced confessions, or threats.

Threats Of Harm Or Death

Threats alone can qualify when they are credible, specific, and backed by actions, patterns, or country conditions. Repeated threats from armed groups or officials often carry more weight when the person has already been attacked, surveilled, or “made an example.”

Severe Discrimination That Destroys Basic Rights

Discrimination becomes persecution when it crosses into serious deprivation. For example, being blocked from work, school, housing, or healthcare because of your protected characteristic can qualify when the impact is extreme and targeted.

Forced Labor Or Coercion By Authorities Or Armed Groups

Forced labor, coercive recruitment, or punishments for refusing to participate can qualify in some cases, depending on the facts and nexus to a protected ground.

What Asylum Officers and Judges Look For

When we prepare a persecution-based asylum claim, we focus on four core questions:

1. What happened, exactly? Dates, places, people, and patterns matter.
2. Does the harm rise to the level of persecution? It must be more than harassment.
3. Why did it happen? The “nexus” must connect the harm to a protected ground.
4. Who could have protected you, and did they? Government involvement or inability/unwillingness is often a key issue.

Strong cases usually include both:

• Personal evidence (your declaration, records, messages, photos, affidavits), and
• Country conditions evidence showing that people like you are targeted, and that protection is ineffective.

Frequently Asked Questions About Asylum & Persecution

Not all harm or hardship qualifies as persecution under U.S. asylum law. To meet the legal standard, the mistreatment must be severe and directly tied to one of the five protected grounds. The following examples illustrate the types of harm that could support an asylum application.