An Immigration Equality Pro Bono Partner in the News
Today’s issue of the Bay Area Reporter includes an in-depth look at the hurdles LGBT people often face as they navigate the U.S. immigration system.
“LGBT immigrants in the United States face many hurdles to seeing their applications for asylum be granted,” the paper reports as part of its coverage, which also includes an interview with Ann Lewis of Ropes and Gray. In June, the firm was honored with a 2010 Immigration Equality Safe Haven Award for its pro bono work on behalf of LGBT asylum seekers.
“There is a lot of work out there,” said Lewis (pictured), an attorney in the firm’s New York office.
“In 2009,” BAR reports, the firm won asylum for 10 clients referred to it by Immigration Equality, more than any other law firm in the country. The asylum seekers included a lesbian from India; a gay HIV-positive Jamaican and his son; a gay HIV-positive Ghanaian; a gay Ukrainian; and a gay man from the Dominican Republic.
“Lewis told the Bay Area Reporter that a key first step in a successful asylum case is to meet the one-year filing deadline. By doing so the process is friendlier than fighting a deportation, she said, and moves rather quickly. Most applicants will wait up to five weeks to be interviewed by immigration officials, and most receive an answer within two weeks, said Lewis.”
“People should be aware if you file an affirmative application you are not in immigration proceedings,” said Lewis. “It is a lot less scary and adversarial than federal removal proceedings.”
“Just as important,” the paper notes, “is for the asylum seeker to be as truthful as possible during their interview about the anti-gay treatment they have faced. At times, Lewis acknowledged, it is not easy for an LGBT person to recall past ill-treatment or to understand what sorts of experiences would apply to their asylum case.”
“It is very painful. To make a case like this it is difficult; these people often have been closeted since early adolescence or learned to keep their feelings to themselves,” said Lewis. “We were just talking about a specific case I am working on where the young man didn’t actually think he suffered past persecution. But he had been sexually abused because he was effeminate.”
It took time to have the man, who is from Jamaica, understand what had happened to him in the past, said Lewis.
“In this case the young man was abused by his uncle. In these very macho, homophobic societies, young men who are effeminate are viewed as targets,” she said.
To read the full story from reporter Matthew Bajko, click here.
Throughout my travels around the world, I’ve discovered just how magical — and unexpectedly easy — it can be to fall in love. What is even more surprising, though, is just how difficult it can be for some to keep their families together. Whether you meet your soul mate in Brazil, or in your own backyard — and whether they happen to be the same gender as you, or not — should not matter. But under our country’s current immigration system, it unfortunately still does. That’s just not right.
