Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Highlights Ropes & Gray’s Pro Bono Asylum Win for Malian Woman

In The News
August 31, 2012
An August 31 Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article titled “Local lawyers help Malian woman gain asylum after years of abuse” featured Ropes & Gray’s pro bono asylum win for a Malian woman. The woman fled the country in 2010 to escape an abusive father and the prospect of an arranged marriage. When her visa expired, she was too afraid to return to Mali and sought legal help to gain asylum. Her case was referred to Ropes & Gray by the National Immigrant Justice Center. 

The Ropes & Gray team filed an expedited defensive asylum application and prepared her for testimony before an immigration judge. The team submitted a 200-page brief outlining the case, but as the article notes, a rare thing happened just hours before the hearing began — the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s trial attorney said she would not oppose granting the woman asylum.  

At the merits hearing, the immigration judge found that the woman had suffered persecution in Mali, continues to suffer from ongoing effects of the persecution, and could not safely return to Mali, therefore granting the woman asylum.  The United States waived its right to appeal. 

Click here to view the full Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article.