Kramer Levin Obtains Asylum for Gay Man Who Fled Persecution in Colombia

A Kramer Levin team has obtained asylum for a gay man who fled Colombia to escape severe persecution because of his sexual orientation and his pro-gay rights civil activism.  Our client was the victim of verbal and physical death threats, physical assaults, extortion, theft, and threats of rape by Colombian police forces, assaults by members of the Colombian military, housing discrimination, and severe mental traumatization.  He fled Colombia after barely escaping a police roundup where several gay men were taken to a remote forest area and executed.  The Kramer Levin team was able to convince the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services that our client was entitled to asylum based on its documentation of the extensive persecution of homosexuals in Colombia and collection of affidavits and documentary evidence corroborating our client's claims.  Aaron Frankel, Mital Gondha, Gregory Dolin, then-summer associate Oliver McKinstry, and paralegals Hana Lee and Matt Keating all worked on this case.  The matter was referred by Immigration Equality.