Case Study 3: Asylum Fleeing Persecution
A young man from Ethiopia escaped with his brother shortly after a coupe in his home country toppled the sitting government. His father was a general who had served the deposed regime. After taking power, the new government began arresting members of the former governments and those perceived to still be loyal to it. The new government also arrested any one belonging to any group that it saw as a threat to it’s power. This included the tribe that the young man belonged to.
When the new government arrested the young man’s father for his involvement with the former regime, the police accused the father of also being a member of the suspected tribe and that he planned on acting against the new government. He was subjected to torture, starvation, and threats to his family. The police would also go to the young man’s home and search it with out warrant, stalk him and his family, and make threats on his and his family’s lives. The police ordered the family not to leave the area and told them that they were being watched. They also accused the young man and his family of being subversives.
On more than one occasion, the police would enter their house, conduct a search, and physically abuse the young man’s mother in front of him. During one incident, he and his brother were beaten by the police and his brother suffered severe head trauma. Fearing for their lives, the young man’s mother decided to get her two sons out of the country. She secured two tourist visas to the United States and put the boys on a plane bound for New York. The boys then made their way to Seattle. Fortunately, the new government was unaware of what the young man’s mother had done and did not realize that the boys had escaped until it was too late to stop them.
Once in the US, the young man and his brother began to establish roots and attended school despite only having tourist visas. The young man joined his high school track team where he distinguished himself as an exceptional athlete. His coach took interest in him and suggested that he apply for a college scholarship. The young man told his coach about his situation and the coach then realized that he had immigration issues. The coach then advised the young man to seek political asylum and assisted the young man in seeking legal assistance.
The US may grant asylum to a refugee who have escaped persecution in his or her country due to race, ethnicity, politics, religion, sexual orientation, or membership in a social group. He or she must also demonstrate credible and well founded fear of what will happen if he or she is returned to their home country and that no part of his or her country is safe. The refugee must not have sought refuge in a third country, must not have persecuted others or have committed non-political crimes, and must have sought asylum within one year of arriving in the US.
Here, the young man was able to show all of the above but had been in the country for more than a year before applying for asylum. This was the main obstacle I as the attorney had to surmount. Also, we had to establish the current country conditions were still hostile to him by showing State Department and Amnesty International reports. In order to show a credible fear, I had the young man write his own story and state why he was scared to return and how much he feared for his life. None the less, the immigration service opposed asylum because the young man did not request asylum within the required amount of time.
What I had to show to the court was that the young man did not file within the one year time limit because if extraordinary circumstances. Here, the young man came to the US when he was only 15 years old and did not know what his legal recourse was until he was 18. Furthermore, when he first arrived, he spoke very little English and the family members who were already in the US and who already had their green cards were unsophisticated and became green card holders through other means. They did not know about asylum. The young man only became aware of his situation when he spoke to his high school track coach about a college scholarship. Furthermore, I argued that once the young man realized his situation, he acted quickly and filed his application for asylum in a very reasonable time.
The court agreed with this argument and granted his asylum application. He later became a legal resident and is now a citizen. He still has not been able to return home to visit as he still fears persecution and has also lost contact with his family. He fears the worst. If you are seeking asylum in the United States or know some one who needs this kind of help, please contact us.