Kramer Levin continues to be extremely active in asylum work, with more than a dozen new cases initiated in 2007 under the coordination of Aaron Frankel and Michael Sternhell. Firm lawyers and summer associates represented 23 victims of torture and persecution from Colombia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, The Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tibet, and Togo. Overall Kramer Levin attorneys and staff donated over 4,500 hours of time to asylum and other immigration matters.

Colombia. Matthew Abbott, Leslie Nguyen, and Aaron Frankel obtained a grant of asylum for a gay man from Colombia suffering from AIDS. In Medellin, the client was targeted for death by an urban militia organization based on his sexual orientation. The matter was complicated by the fact that the client had failed to apply for asylum within the statutory one year filing deadline. The Kramer Levin team filed an affirmative asylum application and prepared extensive briefing, successfully arguing that the client’s recent AIDS diagnosis was a changed circumstance sufficient to overcome the one year deadline based on the increased likelihood of persecution if he returned to Colombia. Henry Cittone, law clerk Michael Ivanciu, then-summer associates Katrina Baker and Kristen Coleman, then-summer intern Brittlynn Hall, and paralegal Hana Lee all assisted.

Jean-Paul Ciardullo is assisting a Colombian citizen, for whom Kramer Levin 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. Since he was granted asylum, our client graduated from the Culinary Institute and is currently working in the restaurant business in Las Vegas. Aaron Frankel is supervising this case.

Democratic Republic of Congo. Jean-Paul Ciardullo is assisting an asylee with his efforts to bring his adopted son to the United States on a derivative asylum application.

Ecuador. Marissa Leung, Jean-Paul Ciardullo, and Eric Welsh are representing an Ecuadorian man in his application for asylum based on persecution due to his sexual orientation. Law clerk Paul Colbourne is assisting and Aaron Frankel is supervising the case.

Egypt. Arielle Warshall Katz and Julie Weiswasser, supervised by Aaron Frankel and assisted by then-summer associates Jason Rappaport and Samantha Ford and law clerks Lilya Suris and Michael Ivanciu, helped a Coptic Christian with his application for asylum based on religious persecution.

Ethiopia. Kramer Levin continues to represent a former child soldier from Ethiopia in his application for 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. Wells Dixon and Grace O’Hanlon previously convinced the Board of Immigration Appeals to reverse an Immigration Court’s denial of our client’s application for asylum (prior to Kramer Levin’s involvement in his case), which was based on the ground that he allegedly persecuted others while fighting as a child soldier in Eritrea, by showing that the judge ignored compelling evidence that this was not the case. Kerri Ann Law, law clerk Maurice Worsley, and then-summer intern Richard Gold contributed to this success. Leslie Nguyen represented our client during the remand to the Immigration Court. Michael Eisenkraft contributed to the briefing for the remand, and Aaron Frankel supervised this case.

Gambia. Geoffrey Hu and Michael Sternhell, with the assistance of then-summer associates Jill Filipovic and Gariel Nahoum, obtained a grant of asylum for a woman from The Gambia who was a victim of female genital mutilation and attempted forced marriage. When our client was only fourteen years old, her father began making arrangements for her to marry a man in his sixties who already had three wives. As her wedding day approached, our client’s father made it clear that she would be killed if she refused to marry her intended husband.

Haiti. Jordan Kaye and Erin Walter are seeking asylum for a man who fled Haiti to escape political persecution. Our client’s brother was abducted by the pro-Aristide Lavalas party and likely killed. Our client began receiving death threats from the Lavalas party after he denounced the kidnapping of his brother over the radio. Aaron Frankel, Bill Huo, Abdul-Rahman Lediju, Eric Welsh, Tracy Sigal, and then-summer associates Jeffrey Barlekamp, Emma-Ann Deacon, and Antonia Lee also worked on this case.

Indonesia. Leslie Nguyen, Phillip Manela, and Aaron Frankel are representing a client defending the government’s appeal of his successful application for asylum to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Our client is a Christian, gay, and HIV-positive person who suffered persecution and torture due to his sexual orientation. The government decided to appeal his grant of asylum because of inaccuracies in an asylum claim filed on our client’s behalf (without his knowledge) by the Chinese Indonesian American Society, an organization whose leaders were later indicted for immigration fraud. Ronald Greenberg supervised the appeal and Michael Eisenkraft played an extensive role in preparing the appellate brief.

Jamaica. Darren Cohen, Peggy Farber, and Becky Porath have obtained an order of withholding of removal for a gay Jamaican man with HIV. Violence against gay people and those with HIV in Jamaica is pervasive and often takes place with the participation or knowing acquiescence of government officials. Debbie Lee, Patricia Ronan, and paralegals Anne Stackpoole and Jennifer Brevaire assisted in the case.

Mexico. Adam Busch and Todd Rosenfield, assisted by law clerk Michael Ivanciu and then-summer associates Selina Ellis and Carl Duffield and supervised by Erin Walter, helped a Mexican woman evaluate her eligibility for asylum based on her fear of persecution due to her transgender status.

Pakistan. Jennifer Haber helped an asylee obtain permanent residence (in near record time). Jennifer Haber and Jennifer Despins were previously selected to receive awards for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy from the Sanctuary for Families’ Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services for their work in obtaining asylum for this client on the ground that she was in danger of persecution based on her political, religious, and social status if forced to return to Pakistan.

Republic of the Congo. Alissa Goodman is helping a man for whom the firm obtained political asylum with his application for permanent residence.

Sierra Leone. Brendan Schulman and Jean-Paul Ciardullo are representing a 22-year-old Sierra Leonean refugee who survived her country’s civil war and is attempting to reunite with her family in the United States. Our client’s father, a former school teacher from Sierra Leone, gained asylum in the United States after being kidnapped and tortured by the dreaded Revolutionary United Front during the Sierra Leone civil war. Brendan and Jean-Paul are also working to help our client’s stepmother and siblings, who live in Mali and have already obtained derivative asylum, obtain visas to the United States. Michael Sternhell is supervising this case and Sasha Coffiner provided assistance.

Sudan. Erin Oshiro and Seema Saifee, with the supervision of Michael Sternhell, obtained asylum for a student activist from Darfur, Sudan. After our client issued a political statement condemning the Sudanese government’s genocide in Darfur, the special security forces of the Sudanese government arrested, detained, and tortured him for 17 days. Our client was released only after he was forced to sign a list of conditions requiring him to abandon his political beliefs and betray his tribe. Upon his release, our client fled his hometown and, after learning that security forces had detained his entire family, he fled to Egypt. During his two years in Egypt, our client continued to be arrested, detained, and beaten by Sudanese agents, and he eventually fled to the United States.

Tibet. Matthew Keller and Alex Kaufman obtained political asylum for a Tibetan refugee who was imprisoned and tortured by Chinese authorities based on his religious devotion to and political support of the Dalai Lama. In 2003, our client was arrested after hanging religious posters near his village. He was held without charge in a local jail for over three months, during which time the police repeatedly beat and shocked him with an electric cattle prod during interrogation. Upon the client’s release from custody, the police visited his home several times each month and threatened him with future punishment if he continued to publicly express his political and religious beliefs. In 2005, our client fled to the United States shortly after the police arrested several fellow villagers known to share his pro-independence beliefs. Jason Stowe and Emily Groendyke and paralegal Marina Trad also worked on this matter, on which Alex began as a summer associate, and Michael Sternhell supervised. Matthew and Alex are now helping our client apply for employment authorization and, eventually, permanent residency status.

Aaron Fleisher and Ying Li represented a Tibetan refugee in his successful application for asylum. Members of our client’s family had been imprisoned and killed by the Chinese government for their participation in pro-Tibetan political activities and their adherence to their religion. Before going into hiding and escaping to New York, our client was arrested for distribution of religious literature about the Dalai Lama and was tortured in prison by Chinese officials. Ilyssa Sena supervised this case and then-summer associates Nicole Foley and Dannie Cho and paralegal Marissa Krukowski provided assistance.

Marissa Leung and Jean-Paul Ciardullo filed an asylum application on behalf of a young Tibetan man who fled to the United States after having been imprisoned by Chinese authorities. Our client was forced to leave his family when he learned that the local police were going to put him back in prison for distributing pamphlets advocating political and religious autonomy for Tibet. Ilyssa Sena and Aaron Frankel are supervising this case and then-summer associates Nicole Foley and Dannie Cho helped with the initial filings.

Alex Kaufman and Jacqueline Grant are representing a 41-year-old Tibetan refugee in his application for asylum. Our client and his family have experienced a long history of persecution by the Chinese government for their Tibetan Buddhist beliefs and peaceful political activities in support of Tibetan independence. Before hiding in Nepal for six months and escaping to New York, our client was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured for distributing pictures of the Dalai Lama and putting up posters featuring the Panchen Lama. Michael Sternhell is supervising this case.

Stephanie Restifo and William Johnson, supervised by Aaron Frankel, are assisting a young Tibetan woman with her application for asylum. The woman’s uncle, brothers, and husband have all been imprisoned by the Chinese government for their participation in pro-Tibetan activities. Shortly after her husband’s arrest, the woman was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured after Chinese government officials found pictures of the Dalai Lama and Panchem Lama in her home.

Jacqueline Edwards and Aaron Frankel are helping a Tibetan man unite his family in the United States. Kramer Levin previously obtained asylum for this client.

Togo. Leslie Nguyen, supervised by Aaron Frankel, is assisting a female survivor of torture, for whom Kramer Levin obtained asylum in 2001, with her application for permanent residence.

Jean-Paul Ciardullo is providing post-asylum counseling to a client for whom the firm previously obtained asylum.

Other Immigration Matters. In addition to participating in our long-standing asylum work, Kramer Levin has 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 its 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.

Kramer Levin is also pro bono immigration counsel for The Center for Constitutional Rights, B’Tselem (an Israeli human rights organization which has recently established a U.S. office located in Washington, D.C.), the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience, and South Brooklyn Legal Services.

Matthew Dunn represents a Haitian national who had been sponsored by her husband for lawful permanent residence (a green card), 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. Invoking a rarely-used provision in the immigration laws that permits someone to move forward on their case even though their sponsor has passed away, Matthew convinced the immigration service to grant her permanent residence application.

Ted Ruthizer helped a Pakistani musician facing persecution based on her sexual orientation determine if she qualified for an extraordinary ability visa.

Mark Koestler and then-summer associate Jeff Barlekamp prepared and filed an immigrant visa petition on behalf of a U.S. citizen father (who could not afford an attorney) for his son who is living in Trinidad. This case was complex given that the U.S. citizen father was never married to the son’s mother. We therefore had the added burden of proving that a bona fide father/son relationship existed when the son was under the age of 21 (despite their living in two separate countries).

Ted Ruthizer, Mark Koestler, and then-summer associate Jill Filipovic prepared and filed a naturalization application for an elderly brain cancer survivor. Because the cancer incapacitated her during a trip outside the United States (when she went to visit her daughter in Jamaica), her brief trip turned into a lengthy one (approximately 10 months), thereby complicating her case by bringing into question the continuity of her residence for naturalization purposes.

Allison Gray, assisted by William Johnson and supervised by Mark Koestler, assisted an indigent young mother from Ecuador, who was suffering from a dangerous and debilitating parasitic infection of the brain called cystercicosis (caused by eating tainted pork), attempt to apply for a visitor’s visa to come to the United States to receive medical treatment. The application was complicated by the requirement to find in advance a doctor willing to treat the patient. After much searching, Allison was able to find an Ecuadorian doctor willing to treat her on a pro bono basis. Our client is now free of seizures and on the road to recovery.

Kramer Levin lawyers also have participated as counsel for amici curiae in cases raising important immigration law issues. In one such case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit entered an order effecting the resolution advocated by Kramer Levin attorneys. The appeal was brought by a Barbados citizen who had lived in the United States since 1989 but now faces deportation due to a single criminal conviction — for possession of a handgun — in 1992. Litigation partner Eric Tirschwell, a member of the Second Circuit’s Pro Bono Panel, was asked by the court to prepare a special brief as “amicus curiae counsel.” The brief explained that ineffective assistance of counsel in deportation proceedings may constitute a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. To remedy any such violation in the case before the court, the brief recommended that the matter be remanded for further proceedings at which evidence could be heard as to what efforts, if any, the immigrant’s attorney made to seek two forms of relief from deportation. The court’s February 2007 decision ordered precisely that relief. Eric was assisted in preparation of the brief by Keith Donoghue and Joseph Schwartz.

In another complex immigration matter, Naomi Schorr prepared an amicus brief for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, urging the immigration agency to give a more expansive reading to a statute that exempted certain nonprofit entities, related to U.S. universities, from the annual cap on professional visas. Congress allotted only 65,000 of those visas to last an entire year, and in 2007, the numbers were used up on the very first day H filings were permitted to be made, thereby exhausting the entire H-1B quota for FY 2008. When a case filed by a school district with an affiliation with several U.S. universities was denied by the immigration agency, Kramer Levin was instrumental in arguing that the agency misinterpreted the statute, and that the exemption was intended to have a broader reach than the agency had permitted. The Administrative Appeals Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved the case, finding that the exemption did, indeed, cover schools affiliated with U.S. universities.

Home: 2007 Pro Bono Report