Immigration Judge Grants Asylum

Our client came to us after escaping from a country whose government persecuted him because of his religion.  One night, when our client and his family were celebrating a holiday, the police came.  The police broke objects in the house while others confiscated religious items and burned them.  The police also arrested the religious leader and at the time our client came to us the religious leader was still in police custody.  Our client managed to escape to the United States and applied for asylum on his own with USCIS but his application was initially denied by USCIS and he was placed into removal proceedings.  Following the denial of his asylum application our client hired us to represent him in removal proceedings.   A person seeking asylum must already be in the United States and must establish that he or she cannot or is unwilling to return to the home country for fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.  First, we supplemented our client's Form I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal.  We also provided guidance to our client when updating his Statement in Support of Form I-589.  In this statement, an applicant demonstrates why he or she should be granted asylum. In addition to our client’s statement, we obtained affidavits from family and friends that described the treatment that our client had received. These affidavits also described the treatment our client was expected to receive if he returned to his home country.  After examining all of the evidence we presented in support of our client’s asylum application and hearing testimony, the Immigration Judge granted the  asylum application.  The Department of Homeland Security did not appeal the decision of the Immigration Judge.

Chinese Christian Asylum Granted in Removal Proceedings

Our firm has represented many Chinese Christians in their applications for asylum due to persecution from the Chinese government for their practice of religion.  Most of our clients come from poor villages in China.  Our most recent victory in Immigration Court came when a Philadelphia Immigration Judge granted asylum to our client, a middle aged Chinese man who is a member of a Christian church in Philadelphia.  He became a Christian later in life after meeting a pastor who owned a store that he as doing business with.  This man invited him to attend his house church and introduced our client to the Bible and the Christian religion.  He began attending church regularly, and also attended a Government registered church to see what that was like.  As many of you know, churches in China are required to register with the Government, and if they do not, the Government considers them to be illegal.  Many unregistered house churches are shut down by the police and their members are arrested, imprisoned, and even beaten by the police. Christianity has become more accepted in China, but the Government seems to be allowing it to expand only through Government registered churches.  When our client attended a Government chuch, he learned that the pastor preached obedience to the Government and told the church members that it was important for them to follow the One Child Policy.  Our client decided that these ideas were not religious and that they were not appropriate for discussion in church.  For these reasons, he decided to only attend the unregistered house church even though it was illegal. After he had attended church for about five months, police learned of the house church, and came one Sunday to shut it down.  The police confiscated the church members’ bibles, arrested them, and took them to the police station.  They were questioned one by one before being required to sign a statement promising to never attend church meetings again.  After that, the church members decided that it was too dangerous to hold meetings at the same house as before, and for that reason, our client agreed to allow the chuch to hold meetings at his own house. Holding meetings at his own house took a lot of courage, but our client had become very dedicated to his religion, and was willing to accept the consequences.  Unfortunately, the police eventually discovered that our client was holding church meetings on Sunday evenings.  When they came to the house, he was able to help his fellow church members escape through the back door.  Our client was arrested by the police and he was detained, questioned, and even beaten before being released 10 days later. Before leaving China, he was forced to report to the Government once a week, and police came to his house many times, embarrassing him and his family.  He left China soon after, and came to our office to apply for asylum.  Now that he has been granted asylum, his wife and child will be able to join him to live in the U.S. and we are helping him prepare petitions for them which we will be filing by next week.  The first immigrants to the U.S., known as the Pilgrims, came from England to escape religious persecution just as our client did.  Americans do not always realize that the stories of today’s immigrants are not very different from the stories of their ancestors who immigrated to this country from their homeland many years ago.

I-485 Application Approved for Asylee

In 2008 our client was granted asylum as she had applied for asylum within one year of her entry to the United States and feared returning to her home country on account of her political opinion.  In 2009, when a year had passed since her grant of asylum, we filed an I-485 application for adjustment of status on her behalf and on behalf of her daughter.  The I-485 applications were approved.  Our client plans to file for citizenship 4 years and 9 months after the issuance date of her green card which is backdated 1 year as is the case for all asylees.

I-485 Applications Approved for Derivative Asylees

We had previously assisted a client in obtaining asylum from Liberia, filing for a green card and obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility to the United States (which was required at the time) since he was HIV positive.  Following approval of his green card we filed I-485 applications for his derivative children.  The I-485 applications for the children were approved within 2 months of filing.

Green Card Application based upon approved Asylum Case that was pending 5 years approved within 2 weeks following filing of Writ of Mandamus

Our client had a pending I-485 application for adjustment of status based upon a grant of asylum that had been pending at the USCIS Nebraska Service Center for approximately 5 years without adjudication.  When USCIS does not adjudicate an application for benefits within a reasonable period of time a powerful tool is to file a Writ of Mandamus in Federal District Court to request a Federal Judge to issue an order requiring USCIS to adjudicate an application.  Our firm was retained to take such action.  We put the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on notice of our intent to file a writ of mandamus but they did not respond to our notice.  We thereafter filed a complaint for writ of mandamus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Within 2 weeks of our filing, our clients I-485 application was approved and the green card was issued.  The United States Attorney assigned to the case had contacted USCIS to adjudicate the application.  Upon approval of the green card we withdrew our mandamus complaint.  A 5 year wait resolved in 2 weeks is a true success story!

Asylum Application Approved After Two DHS Appeals

Our client from Albania was originally granted asylum in 2001 based on his persecution due to his membership in Albania's Democratic Party.  Our client had suffered severe beatings and head trauma as evidenced by multiple large scars and indentations clearly visible .  However, the Immigration Service appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, arguing that our client was not a credible witness. The Board of Immigration Appeals remanded our client's case to the Immigration Court and the Judge scheduled a new trial at which we presented multiple pieces of new evidence, including statements from high ranking officials in Albania's Democratic Party.  The Immigration Judge granted our client's application for asylum a second time, and for a second time, the Government appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Eventually, the Government decided to withdraw its appeal, and the Board of Immigration Appeals recently remanded our client's case to the Immigration Court for a final grant of asylum.  He will receive his final grant of asylum in the Immigration Court at a hearing next week, and after more than a decade of fighting for his right to stay in the U.S., he is looking forward to applying for his green card, and eventually for U.S. citizenzhip.

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