Asylum for People Persecuted for their Political Beliefs, December 2014

Two other cases of Haitian clients facing political persecution are still awaiting final decision.  In December 2014, Patricia Marealle ’16 and Soon Isaac Kim ’16 handled a hearing in the Asylum Office for a Haitian community activist who was threatened and severely beaten because he refused to align his organization with political parties demanding his group’s allegiance.  That same fall, Kate Peccerillo ’16 and Jose Maldonado ’15 prepared and presented the case of a Haitian dentist and community activist who was threatened with death by thugs affiliated with former President Aristide’s Lavalas party because of his vocal opposition to Lavalas.  In both cases, the Asylum Officers indicated that they found the applicants’ accounts of their experiences to be credible and their fears well-founded, but the decisions have been delayed by an agency review process.