Kramer Levin continues to be extremely active in asylum work, with several new cases initiated under the coordination of Kerri Ann Law, Aaron Frankel, and Michael Sternhell.  In all, firm lawyers and summer associates represented 19 victims of torture and persecution from Burma, China, Columbia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jamaica, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Tibet, Togo, and Uganda.

Burma.  Jay Park and Marissa Leung are representing a pro-democracy activist from Burma in connection with her application for political asylum.  Officials from the Burmese military government repeatedly warned our client to cease her pro-democracy activities.  After one incident, she was detained by military intelligence officials and severely beaten over a prolonged period.  If our client is returned to Burma, she will likely face further detention and torture.

China.  Chatchada Chiamprasert is assisting an asylee and his family to obtain permanent residence.  Our client was persecuted for protesting repressive policies of the Chinese government.

Colombia.  Ilana Kahn continued to assist a Colombian citizen, for whom she previously obtained asylum, in connection with his application for permanent residence.  Our client is a gay man who fled Colombia after suffering persecution by the Colombian police and military during his time in military school.  After arriving in the United States, our client was diagnosed as HIV positive and feared returning to his home country, where people with HIV are singled out for violent abuse.  Since he was granted asylum, our client graduated from the Culinary Institute and is currently working in the restaurant business in Las Vegas.

Democratic Republic of Congo.  Jennifer Despins, with the assistance of Patricia Ronan, helped an applicant from the Democratic Republic of Congo obtain political asylum.  The Congolese government persecuted, imprisoned, and tortured our client and his family because of their Luba Kasai and Tutsi ethnicities, as well as their political advocacy for the Union Pour la Democratic et le Progres Social, a pro-democracy political organization.  At the conclusion of the asylum hearing, the judge granted our client asylum on the spot, a rare occurrence.  Kramer Levin attorneys Kerri Ann Law, Ian Sandler, Christiaan Johnson-Green, Patricia Seith, Lauren Freeman-Bosworth, Parthena Psyllos, and Joseph Schwartz all assisted with this case.

Shoshana Menu helped a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo obtain a grant of asylum and derivative asylum and travel visas for her four sons.  Our client, a professor at the University of Kinshasa, was detained and tortured on multiple occasions because of her outspoken views regarding corruption in the government and her membership in the Luba tribe, an ethnic group persecuted by the government.

Matthew Abbott is helping a client for whom we previously obtained asylum with his application for permanent residence.

Ethiopia.  Wells Dixon and Grace O’Hanlon represented a former child soldier from Ethiopia in his successful appeal from an Immigration Court decision denying his application for political asylum.  From the time he was thirteen, the Ethiopian government repeatedly arrested and tortured our client because of his Oromo tribal affiliation and his belief in democracy and the exercise of free speech.  Our client finally obtained his release from prison only after agreeing, under threat of death, to being conscripted into the Ethiopian military as a child soldier in the civil war with Eritrea.  He fled to the United States after being treated in Kenya for wounds that he suffered in Eritrea before escaping from the military.  The Immigration Court denied our client’s application for political asylum on the ground that he persecuted others while fighting as a child soldier in Eritrea.  Now that the denial has been reversed, the case has been remanded to the Immigration Court for further proceedings.  Kerri Ann Law, law clerk Maurice Worsley, and then-summer intern Richard Gold contributed to this success.

Haiti.  Andrew Blau and Bill Dimos obtained a grant of asylum for a young man from Haiti who was an outspoken opponent of Aristide and the Lavalas government and a leader of an influential student rights organization (“FEUH”) that peacefully protested the Aristide government.  After Aristide’s government was overthrown, a power vacuum developed and FEUH aligned itself with the Front for National Reconstruction, a paramilitary group involved in the ousting of Aristide.  Our client objected to this relationship and was told he would be killed if he did not cease his condemnation of the partnership.  Fearing for his life, our client fled to the United States.  Andrew and Bill had to demonstrate that, although the client returned to Haiti after travel abroad before leaving for the United States, changed circumstances increased his reasonable fear of persecution and required that he flee.  The immigration judge found our client's testimony credible and granted asylum.  Then-summer associates Jean Paul Ciardullo and Rebecca Porath assisted on this case.

Jamaica.  Darren Cohen and Patricia Ronan, with the assistance of Debbie Lee and then-summer associates Fernando Tamayo and Jeff Ehrenpreis, have represented a 30-year-old Jamaican in his application for asylum and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture based on his homosexuality and HIV+ status.  Violence against gay people in Jamaica is pervasive and often takes place with the participation or knowing acquiescence of government officials.  Individuals with HIV are more likely to face life-threatening discrimination and persecution.

Pakistan.  Aaron Frankel, Mital Gondha, and Gregory Dolin obtained a grant of asylum for a gay man who faced persecution if returned to his native Pakistan.  Prior to Kramer Levin’s involvement in his case, our client’s asylum application had been denied on credibility grounds, but our team demonstrated that inconsistencies between our client’s written application and his later interview testimony stemmed from material changes in the facts, including that his sexual orientation did not become widely known in Pakistan until after he had filed for asylum.  After the Kramer Levin team presented our client’s case at his merits hearing, the government attorney withdrew her objection to asylum and thanked the team for preparing “well written papers” that “made [her] job easy.”  Immigration Judge Terry Baine specifically noted that she found our client’s testimony “very, very credible” shortly before deciding in his favor.  Matthew Abbott and then-summer associate Alison Monahan assisted with this case.

Jennifer Despins and Jennifer Haber, assisted by Cesar Bello and then-summer associate Leena Khandwala, in addition to legal assistant Lamina Vucetovic, obtained a grant of asylum for a woman from Pakistan on the ground that she was in danger of persecution based on her political, religious, and social status if forced to return to Pakistan.  Our client came to the United States with a man who later refused to marry her because his parents would not consent to the marriage, even though the couple already had three sons.  The man repeatedly abused our client and eventually abandoned her without means to support herself and her children.  Our client’s family in Pakistan had repeatedly threatened to kill her if she returned to Pakistan for shaming the family by not allowing them to pick her husband, leaving them, and having children out of wedlock.  The Pakistani government condones such violent acts, termed “honor killings,” and would not have supported or protected her.  The case was particularly challenging because of the one year deadline bar (applicants must normally apply for asylum within one year of their arrival in the United States).  The Kramer Levin team was able to convince the Immigration Court that the one year bar did not apply because of extraordinary circumstances and recent changes in our client’s case.  The Kramer Levin team worked closely with Sanctuary For Families, an organization that represents victims of domestic violence, and Nassau County agencies, to find financial support and affordable housing for our client. 

Republic of the Congo.  Alissa Goodman, with the assistance of Patricia Ronan, Joseph Schwartz, and Jeffrey Braun, helped a 25 year old man from the Republic of the Congo obtain political asylum.  Our client suffered severe persecution under the Congolese regime because of his membership in the Lari Tribe and political opinions that were imputed to him on account of his father’s membership in Union Panafricaine Pour La Démocratie Sociale, a pro-democracy political party whose members are routinely persecuted by the Congolese regime and its militias.  Our client was imprisoned, tortured, and extrajudicially ordered to be executed.  He managed to escape from prison on the eve of his execution and went into hiding in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo before fleeing to the United States.  Alissa presented testimony from our client at the Immigration Court hearing to prove that he was tortured for the reasons described and that he faced the threat of future torture and execution if forced to return to the Republic of Congo.  The evidence was corroborated by an expert who testified about the past and current country conditions in the Republic of Congo, a declaration from the person who helped our client escape from prison, and a report from a psychologist who documented the post-traumatic effects of our client's torture.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge granted our client political asylum.

Tibet.  Michael Sternhell, with the assistance of Jeremy Saks and then-summer associates Julie Weiswasser and Sarah Gleit, obtained political asylum for a Tibetan refugee who was tortured and imprisoned by the Chinese government based on his pro-independence political activities and religion.  Our client was arrested while attempting to distribute religious materials near his village and was then subjected to repeated beatings and shocked with an electric cattle prod during a three-day interrogation by the local police.  He spent the next six months in solitary confinement in a Chinese prison.  In 2001, our client and his wife were able to send their three sons to study in a Tibetan religious school in India affiliated with the Dalai Lama.  When the authorities discovered this, our client was again threatened with imprisonment.  Fearing for his safety and that of his family, he fled to the United States.  Our client’s initial affirmative application for asylum was denied after the government concluded that he had not proved compliance with the one-year filing deadline.  After the case was referred to Immigration Court, we were able to locate additional witnesses who could attest to our client’s time and place of arrival in the United States.  Michael is now helping our client apply for employment authorization and permanent residence.

Grace O’Hanlon and Jonathan Fried continued to assist a Tibetan client, a former nun who was imprisoned and raped by the Chinese authorities because of her support of the Dalai Lama and who was granted asylum in 1999, with her application for permanent residency in the United States.

Jacqueline Edwards and Andrew Blau are helping a client, for whom the firm previously obtained asylum, with various post-asylum issues including his application for permanent residence.

Togo.  Alison Sclater, with the assistance of Patricia Ronan, helped a 25-year old woman from Togo obtain political asylum.  The Togolese government arrested and tortured our client and her family because of their political opinions and activities as members of the Union des Forces de Changement (“UFC”), a pro-democracy political party whose members are routinely persecuted by the military regime.  On multiple occasions, our client was arrested, tortured, and threatened with future torture if she continued her political activity with the UFC.  She refused to cease her activities, however, and shortly after participating in a pro-democracy march and demonstration received a summons from the police to report to a known interrogation and torture facility.  She immediately went into hiding and a few months later fled Togo for the United States.  Kerri Ann Law, Lauren Freeman-Bosworth, and Michael Sternhell, then-summer associates Ashley Roberts and Shirin Shakir, and legal assistants Pamela Badolato and Allen Mukaida all contributed to this success.

Aaron Frankel continued to assist a female survivor of torture, for whom Kramer Levin obtained asylum in 2001, with her application for permanent residency and with obtaining travel documents.

Uganda.  Sarah Gleit is helping a client for whom we obtained asylum with her application for permanent residence and other post-asylum issues.

Other Immigration Matters.  In addition to participating in our long-standing asylum work, we have helped both nonprofit organizations and low income individuals with immigration issues.  • The firm is pro-bono immigration counsel to the Legal Aid Society of New York.  Ted Ruthizer and Jennifer Danzo advise Legal Aid on immigration law matters for their foreign national professional staff and handle all aspects of preparing the necessary petitions, applications, and other submissions to permit talented non-citizen lawyers to be work authorized to perform legal services for the Society.  Our work has included handling Labor Condition Applications, H-1B initial petitions, and H-1B extension cases, as well as handling inquiries from the General Counsel’s office when other immigration law issues arise.  • For many years we have been pro bono immigration counsel to the Manhattan Theatre Club.  We handle all of MTC’s immigration law needs, including filing petitions for outstanding foreign national actors, directors, playwrights, stage designers, and others.  Ted Ruthizer, with help from legal assistant Marissa Solomon, recently obtained approval for acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson to assist with the production of his new play “Shining City” at MTC’s Biltmore Theatre.  • Mark Koestler also handled an immigration matter for a foreign national staff lawyer of the Center for Constitutional Rights and was successful in getting her appropriate work visa status.  • Matthew Dunn, with help from legal assistant Carleen Victoria, represents a Haitian national who had been sponsored by her husband for lawful permanent residence (a greencard), but whose application was jeopardized when the husband passed away.  The widow was required to inform the immigration service that her husband (her sponsor) was deceased, which if not approached correctly could have caused her application to be denied and required her to depart the U.S. immediately.  There is a provision in the immigration laws that permits someone to move forward on their case despite the fact that their sponsor has passed away.  It is rarely invoked but we have been successful before in salvaging a case similar to the situation in which this widow now finds herself.  Based on our law briefs, the immigration service has granted her work authorization and permitted her to remain in the U.S. while they are evaluating her case.  • Matt also served as counsel to an Israeli national whose marriage-based lawful permanent residence (greencard) case was denied on two occasions.  The case had been denied because he was indigent and could not adequately show that he and his spouse had sufficient funds to overcome a “public charge” ground of inadmissibility.  We were able to prepare his case and draw on other methods of support in order to make the requisite showing to the immigration service.  The result was that the immigration service reconsidered its previous position and granted him lawful permanent residence.  • In another immigration matter, Jay Park and Dana Post, with assistance and supervision from Jonathan Fried, represented a lawful permanent resident originally from Mexico before the Board of Immigration Appeals.  The Department of Homeland Security appealed from an Immigration Judge’s decision to cancel the client’s removal from the United States based on criminal convictions.

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