CASE: Asylum in Immigration Court
CLIENT: Chinese
LOCATION: New York Immigration Court
Our Chinese client came to the United States on a F-1 visa in July 2012. He was persecuted and harmed in China based on his political opinion and political activism, so within one year of his entry, he filed an asylum application (Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and relief under the CAT) to the USCIS with our office’s legal assistance. He was interviewed at the Asylum Office in Lyndhurst, NJ in February 2013, but his case was referred to an immigration judge. The Notice to Appear was issued and our client was placed in removal proceedings.
After the case was referred to the Immigration Court, our client retained our office again.
Our client was scared to go back home to China, fearing that he will be persecuted based on his political opinion and his past political speech. While our client was in China, he made political speech in public and expressed his ideas regarding democracy in China. As a result, he was arrested and detained by the Chinese police and has experienced harm and mistreatments in numerous occasions.
We helped him prepare his asylum application and represented him in immigration court hearings. We also asked him to provide supporting documents corroborating his claim, some of which were a letter from his father, colleagues and friends in China and medical documents of our client’s psychological health. Our firm also did some research on articles related to his claim, and the type of persecution he will experience in China if sent back.
Our client’s individual hearing was scheduled on December 19, 2016, at the New York Immigration Court. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu represented our client at the hearing. During the hearing, our client testified credibly as to his past persecution in China and likelihood of future persecution. After the hearing, the Immigration Judge granted asylum relief for our client. He is now an asylee who will get his work permit soon and will be eligible to apply for permanent residency in one year.