This is a case about a young boy who was threatened, attacked, beaten, and coerced into gang activities starting at the age of twelve, a boy who was a victim of the same violent behavior of the MS-13 gang as was the teacher the gang members harmed. Alonso Serrano-Serra’s presence there that evening did not result in harm for the teacher in anyway nor did Alonso even know the gang members planned such an act that evening when he got in the car. Driving that car and waiting at the door were tangential and inconsequential for the teacher and are not within the scope of “assistance” in persecution barred by the statute. Mortified by what he knew the gang members had done, Alonso called the police, risking his own life, in hopes of helping the teacher. Any argument that the persecutor bar does not allow for a duress exception is grounded in flawed understanding and skimmed knowledge of legislative history. The bar should contain an appropriate duress…show more content… He drove the car, uncertain of the objective, and stood outside of an abandoned house for twenty minutes. None of these actions resulted in direct harm for the victim, and, consequently, mean Serrano-Serra did not assist in the persecution. Serrano-Serra also did not have sufficient knowledge of the gang member’s intent that evening. There were many activities in which the gang could have possibly headed to engage in, of which he wanted no part regardless of what they were. Because he did not have any requisite knowledge of why the gang members wanted him to drive the car, he cannot be found to pass the sufficient knowledge test since his knowledge never rose to a culpable level. Finally, while not dispositive, Serrano-Serra’s redemptive act of calling the police, knowing the gang would hurt him badly if they came to know, should bolster the opinion of this Court in deciding the persecutor bar does not apply to
