Case of former Mexican soldier who filed for asylum, based on the fact that he had been approached by Narco-traffickers who needed his military training to help them in illegal criminal activity. As he refused to cooperate, he categorized him into a Particular Social Group (PSG) of “former Mexican soldier who was threatened to aid cartels based on his training.” The Immigration Judge found the category to be viable and found the threats to his life significant to grant him asylum from Mexico.
A Venezualan client was arrested at the port of entry. As he was classified as an arriving alien, he was required to complete his asylum case from inside the detention center. Our office aided his family in collecting numerous documents to support his fear of return based on the present political climate in Venezuela. We then aided him in preparing his own affidavit with several drafts until we felt it was satisfactory to present to the Immigration Judge. The judge, during the Merits hearing, complimented the extent of supporting evidence our office had collected in supporting his claim. Also, given that the client had prepared his testimony through several practice sessions with our attorneys, he was very well prepared for the Merits hearing, and was thereafter granted relief in the form of asylum.
Our client from Pakistan feared retribution from the Taliban, given that he had worked with the Pakistani army in locating Taliban strongholds. The Immigration Judge found his testimony credible and also found that he could not relocate to any other area of Pakistan given the fact that he had been “blacklisted” by the Taliban. He was granted asylum at his Merits hearing.
A Roma client (male) was granted withholding of removal from Romania as the immigration judge found his testimony of past persecution to be credible. He had been physically beaten on numerous occasions and incarcerated by the Romanian police. The DHS counsel argued that he could relocate to a third safe country as Romania is under the EU. The issue or relocation is presently on appeal.
