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Immigration Clinic Client Victories

"I’ll only have a couple general statutory bar questions to ask and will defer to Judge Jimenez in granting relief" Please join me in congratulating Immigration Clinic client W-G-G, from Venezuela. He was granted asylum this morning by Immigration Judge (IJ) Christina Jiménez. W-G-G was represented by student-attorneys Anam Abid and Matt Banaitis. Thanks to the grant the client can begin the process of bringing his wife and 11 and 8 year-young kids to the USA. When asked, the client couldn’t remember the ages of his kids. Which can happen when Dads are asked the ages of their kids. The ICE trial attorney complimented Anam and Matt on the thoroughness of their pretrial filing and direct examination, limited his cross-examination to the statutory bar questions, and deferred to the IJ's discretion on the grant of asylum. The hearing lasted 50 minutes. In addition to Anam and Matt, student-attorneys Jasmine Martínez and Mark Rook also worked on this case.

May 22, 2023 - "Thank you isn’t enough to express how grateful we are." On May 22, 2023, V-M- was granted her green card. Her applications were filed on April 18, 2022 and her interview at USCIS was waived. V-M- is the wife of our long-time client, E-K-. The Clinic started representing E-K- in 2009 and helped him obtain asylum, his green card, and then his U.S. citizenship. Once he became a U.S. citizen, he was able to petition for his wife, V-M-, with whom he has two kids, ages 2 and 4. Like E-K-, V-M- is from Cameroon. Please join me in congratulating Mir Sadra Nabavi and Trisha Kondabala, who both worked on the case.

February 1, 2023 - "I hope to rebuild my life here. I can't save my country, but I can save myself and my family." On February 1, 2023 Immigration Clinic client, R-W-, was granted asylum by the Arlington Asylum Office. The interview was June 6, 2022, and we received the approval notice yesterday. R-W- was a women's rights attorney in Afghanistan. Among her duties, she trained law students to help women access justice using the legal system and was training to become a prosecutor to try cases involving violence against women. When the Taliban entered Kabul, she had to quit her job at the organization she worked at and stop her training program. Because she feared being targeted based on her advocacy and her education, R-W- fled Afghanistan on her third evacuation attempt. The stress of her situation caused her to experience depression, anxiety, and fainting spells, which all required medical attention. Now that R-W- is in the United States, she is feeling better health-wise and is researching law school programs, as she hopes to continue practicing as an attorney. The above is what R-W- wrote in her affidavit in support of her asylum application. R-W can now begin the process of bringing her husband to the USA. He remains in Afghanistan. Please join me and Professor Vera in congratulating Alex Chen and Julia Addison, who worked on the case.

December 2022 - On April 16, 2019, the Immigration Clinic filed a family-based immigrant petition on behalf of our client, T-M-, a U.S. citizen who was petitioning for his wife, E-H-. Prior to becoming an Immigration Clinic client, E-H- had been deported to Ethiopia on August 12, 2009, after an unsuccessful asylum claim. T-M- and their three U.S. citizen children, now ages 7,13, and 17, traveled back and forth between Ethiopia and the U.S. for years to see E-H-. E-H- had to remain outside of the U.S. that whole time due to her deportation order. On October 26, 2022, E-H- had her green card interview at the U.S. embassy. Her case was approved shortly after and she finally returned to the United States in December 2022, over thirteen years after she left. Please join me and Professor Vera in congratulating Kirsten Ryan, Samuel Phipps, Colleen Ward, Daniel Fishelman, and Cornelia Waugh, who all worked on this case.

June 16, 2021 - "We never go to bed angry." That's what our client, W-C-, describes as the secret to making his marriage work. On June 16, 2021,W-C- was approved for a green card based on his marriage to his U.S. citizen husband, J-C-. W-C- had his interview at USCIS the day before, where he was represented by Clinic intern, Jasmine Martinez, JD '23. Though the USCIS officer was tough, Team W-C- was tougher. W-C- was initially represented by the Clinic for an asylum case after being arrested, sexually assaulted, and disowned by his family in Zimbabwe for being a gay man. While in the U.S. waiting for an interview on his asylum case, he met his husband and is now the stepfather to J-C-'s two small girls. The Clinic was especially proud to celebrate this victory during Pride Month. Please join me in congratulating Abril Costanza Lara, Esder Chong, Halima Nur, Sanaa Khan, Jasmine Martinez, and Paulina Vera, who all worked on the case.

May 22, 2021 - GW Law Immigration Clinic law students write to Congress advocating for the introduction of legislation creating a politically independent immigration court system. Read the full letter (PDF).

March 19, 2021 - "I told him about it and he was happy and crying at the same time. Thank you so much your team is just awesome! God bless y'all so much!" On March 19, 2021, our client P-M- shared this message after learning that she was granted a T visa for victims of trafficking. When P-M- was 11 years old, her stepfather, who worked for the embassy of the African country they are from, brought P-M- and her mother to the United States. Her stepfather began to isolate P-M- in their home to sexually abuse her and even did so inside of the embassy. He threatened to send P-M- back to Africa to live by herself if she told anyone what happened. The abuse continued for two years. As a result of the sexual abuse she faced as a minor, P-M- suffered from eating disorders and suicidal ideation in her adulthood.  In 2019, with the emotional support of her husband, A-M-, P-M- reported her stepfather to the police and he was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison. A-M- is currently in removal proceedings and the Clinic will move to terminate these proceedings based on A-M-'s derivative T visa status. This means that P-M-, A-M-, and their three U.S. citizen children, all under the age of 10, can stay together in the United States. Please join in congratulating Navil Infante, Leah Aoun, Madeleine Delurey, Sam Thomas, Sarah Husk, Julia Yang, and Paulina Vera, who all worked with team P-M-/A-M-.

January 15, 2021 - After over five years, three interviews, one request for evidence, one almost-filed mandamus action, and countless inquiries, our client M-M- was finally granted asylum by the Arlington Asylum Office on January 15, 2021. The application was filed on November 25, 2015. M-M- is a Muslim lawyer from Iran who received threats from the government based on her human rights work and her involvement in the 2009 presidential election. M-M- was also threatened and sexually assaulted after a stranger became aware of her relationship with a Jewish Iranian man. M-M- came to the U.S. to further her education and pursue an LLM but feared returning to Iran because she continued her human rights work here and also maintained romantic relationships with non-Muslim partners. Sadly, the prolonged delay in M-M-'s case has caused her to defer many opportunities, like pursuing her JD, and has further exacerbated her PTSD. Please join in congratulating Fayruz Lama, Sebastian Weinmann, Sanaa Khan, Alex North, Amy Lattari, Allison Mateo, Chen Liang, Michaela Andriatch, Sameen Ahmadnia, Paulina Vera, and Jonathan Bialosky, who all worked on the case.

September 2, 2020 - "They told my mom they would hit her where it hurt the most - me and my brother." On September 2, 2020, 3L and student-attorney Sarah Husk represented her client, J-M-L-, during his affirmative asylum interview at the Arlington Asylum Office. J-M-L- originally filed his asylum application back in Dec. 2016 with the help of the Immigration Clinic. J-M-L-'s stepfather, E-H-, worked as a janitor at a police station in El Salvador. 18th Street gang members began to write threatening letters to E-H- accusing him of snitching to the police. Even after J-M-L-'s stepfather fled the area, the gang members called J-M-L-'s mother to continue the threats, telling her that if she didn't stop hiding E-H-, they would come after J-M-L- and his brother. After 4-5 calls like this, J-M-L- fled to the United States to seek protection because as he said in his interview, "[the gang members] don't play around and you don't wait around until they hurt you." Unfortunately, the application was referred to Immigration Court where the Immigration Clinic will continue to represent J-M-L and win him asylum. Please join in congratulating Sarah Husk, Rachel Kidd, Evan Hunt, Chen Liang, Celina Marquez, and Jonathan Bialosky, who all worked on the case.