In 2006, Morgan Lewis spent more than 8,000 hours on the representation of more than 60 individuals seeking asylum in the U.S.
Morgan Lewis has a long standing commitment to providing legal services to those seeking asylum in the United States. Most of our immigration clients faced terrible violence in their country of origin. Each of our clients has a miraculous story, making our immigration work extremely rewarding. Examples include:
Afghanistan: Petition on behalf of female journalist persecuted for documenting repression of women under the Taliban.
Chad: Petition on behalf of individual persecuted because of family’s support of opposition political group.
Cameroon: Petition on behalf of individual persecuted for active membership in a minority political party. Petition on behalf of officer in main opposition party who was imprisoned for more than a year and tortured. Petition on behalf of woman who was persecuted for participation in two opposition political organizations and who was in danger of female genital mutilation and beatings.
Honduras: Asylum granted under Convention Against Torture to unaccompanied 13-year-old girl who fled country with a smuggler to escape an abusive household and gang violence. Asylum petition on behalf of former government worker who was threatened, beaten and targeted for assassination by drug traffickers and the government. Asylum petition for minor who survived being shot eight times by gang members before fleeing to the United States.
Iraq: Successful Special Immigrant Status petition for former interpreter who worked with American forces in Iraq.
Ivory Coast: Successful asylum and dependency petition for 18-year old escaping political persecution. Client is now in college in the United States.
Somalia: Petition on behalf of 24- year-old who suffered persecution from the violent Hawiye tribe. Petition on behalf of refugee who spent years living in a U.N. camp in Kenya before seeking asylum in the United States.
We regularly take asylum cases from organizations such as:
- Texas Asylum Project
- National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
- Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Human Rights First
In addition to our representation of individual asylum clients, Morgan Lewis works closely with a number of organizations that are committed to larger immigration issues.
This past summer, nearly 40 Morgan Lewis personnel spent over 1,700 hours researching the law of 50 states in four critical areas affecting the health and well-being of immigrant women who become victims of sexual assault or spousal abuse.
Morgan Lewis undertook this major project at the request of the non-profit Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program. Legal Momentum believes that these surveys of Pre-Natal Care, Emergency Medicaid, Forensic Examinations/Post-Assault Healthcare and Crime Victim Compensation are the first of their kind, and will be made into charts for use by health, law enforcement and legal professionals across the country to advise immigrant women of the services available to them during a traumatic time.
The work will be reviewed and sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Justice and will form the “access to healthcare” component of a DOJ-sponsored sexual assault manual to be revealed at an upcoming Five State Summit in St. Louis where attorneys, advocates, justice system and law enforcement personnel gather to develop strategies for meeting the needs of immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and trafficking.