Leonid Melekhin, a political activist from Perm, Russia, applied for asylum in the United States in August 2024. In December, his application was rejected due to a lack of “well-founded fear or clear probability of future persecution,” despite him having been detained multiple times in Russia for actions including holding a single-person picket to call for the release of Alexei Navalny from prison. Melekhin’s activism was well documented in Russian media. In early 2025, he discovered that criminal charges had been filed against him in his home country. Despite this, he lost his appeal at the immigration court and was deported back to Russia, where he was promptly arrested for “justifying terrorism.” Melekhin’s case is a clear example o
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