Linklaters and Covington & Burling Win Asylum Case for LGBTQ+ Couple

Lucy Wolf

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary will honor teams from Linklaters LLP and Covington & Burling LLP for representing “Jonah” and “James” in obtaining asylum status.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families will honor teams from Linklaters LLP and Covington & Burling LLP for representing “Jonah” and “James” in obtaining asylum status. The teams consisted of Associates Nina Hrushko and Rebecca Zeldin of Linklaters, and Associate Lauren Shor and former Associates Jack Nelson, Katherine Onyshko, and Elisa Solomon of Covington.

Jonah and James are Russian gay men and LGBTQIA+ activists. As openly gay men in an incredibly homophobic country, James and Jonah consistently experienced threats and violence. James’s family in particular was hostile to his sexuality and put both James and Jonah in danger. However, none of this deterred them from their work as LGBTQIA+ activists. . After the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, James and Jonah brought flowers and a sign to the American embassy in Moscow to show their support for the victims, only to be arrested and harassed by Russian police. After they were arrested, they decided to flee Russia together and arrived in New York in 2017. Once in the U.S., they were finally able to marry and began their years-long affirmative asylum process, with the support of Sanctuary for Families and a team of lawyers for each of Jonah and James’s individual cases. Jonah was represented by the Linklaters team and James was represented by the Covington team. In 2023, after six years of teamwork, creativity, and patience, both James and Jonah were finally granted asylum. Jonah and James celebrated by inviting the legal teams to their apartment for dinner, highlighting how close the relationships they formed throughout the asylum process had become.

James and the Covington team filed his application and listed Jonah as a derivative spouse on the application. Jack Nelson, formerly with Covington, and now with Sive Pagel Riesel, describes James as an incredible person. Jack was impressed that despite their traumatic personal history, James and Jonah have kept an optimistic outlook throughout the asylum process, continuing their political activism in New York and volunteering with the Russian LGBTQIA+ community.

Jonah and the Linklaters team filed a separate asylum application for Jonah, because he had experienced the same hostility and was eligible for asylum in his own right, while also listing James as Jonah’s derivative spouse on the application. Nina Hrushko at Linklaters describes Jonah as outgoing and easy to work with, and a positive person, despite going through so much.

When James and Jonah first filed their asylum applications, they were just beginning to learn English and used an interpreter for meetings with their legal teams. Over the course of the six years of their asylum cases, both Jonah and James became fluent in English, so much so that they could help the attorneys catch errors made early on, when some stories got lost in translation. By the end of the case, Jack described working with James and Jonah as just like working with partner counsel.

James and Jonah’s cases also presented a unique opportunity for two law firms to work closely together, with the support of Sanctuary for Families. Each firm reported a great experience working together. Nina speaks Russian and Ukrainian, so she was able to help both litigation teams with interviews and affidavits and to communicate with James and Jonah’s friends and other witnesses.

Although Jonah and James presented very strong cases for asylum, some logistical complications arose with their cases. After many years of waiting for their interviews with the Asylum Office, James was granted asylum on February 8, 2023, but through a clerical error, Jonah was not granted asylum as James’s derivative. Not to be deterred, Jonah and the Linklaters team advocated to Senator Gillibrand, the USCIS ombudsman, and the USCIS Liaison at the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative. Finally, in July 2023, Jonah was also granted asylum.

Even after James’s application was granted, the Covington team stayed involved and worked collaboratively with the Linklaters team to support Jonah in his asylum application. Both litigation teams also spoke highly of the support from Sanctuary for Families and especially appreciated help from Deirdre Stradone, Co-Deputy Director of the Immigration Intervention Project. Deirdre, likewise, was incredibly impressed with both teams and their tireless dedication to James and Jonah over the course of six years.

Jonah and James came to New York as refugees six years ago. Now, James is attending a prominent university on a scholarship and Jonah is a filmmaker. To their legal teams, James and Jonah are inspiring. And, after six years of working together, they are also good friends.

Sanctuary is incredibly grateful for the compassionate pro bono work that Covington and Linklaters dedicated to assisting Jonah and James in their journey to safety and security in the United States.

Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 25, 2023, as we honor Linklaters LLP and Covington & Burling LLP ‘s outstanding pro bono work.

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Lucy Wolf is an Assistant Attorney General at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council.

Gibson Team Honored for Representation of a Survivor of Child Abuse in an Asylum Case

Naina Rasheed

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary will honor a Gibson Dunn team for their dedication to representing “Ms. N” in a defensive asylum case.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families will be honoring a team from Gibson Dunn for their dedication to representing “Ms. N” from El Salvador in a defensive asylum case. The outstanding team representing Ms. N included associates Alexandra Perloff-Giles and Ana Lopez, and former Gibson Dunn associate Philip Shapiro.

Ms. N is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. As a young teenager, her mother sold her to a MS-13 gang member and she was forced to become his girlfriend. During the course of their “relationship,” the man verbally, physically, and sexually abused Ms. N. She had one child with him. When Ms. N bravely reported the abuse to the authorities in El Salvador, a judge ruled that it was not rape since Ms. N had become pregnant. Ms. N attempted to escape this relationship multiple times. Finally, after six years, she was able to flee El Salvador in 2015 and entered the United States after being detained for three months.

The Gibson team began working on the case in 2016, meeting with Ms. N dozens of times in preparation for the Individual Hearing, which was scheduled for 2019. All of the materials—including affidavits, certified translations, expert reports, and a legal brief—had been submitted. But just days before the scheduled hearing, it was adjourned nearly four years, to January 2023, ostensibly because a Spanish interpreter was not available. On the new date, the Immigration Judge realized she did not have a copy of Ms. N’s file and the case was further adjourned by one month.

While the significant delays presented certain challenges, they also proved fortuitous in certain respects. The Matter of A-B- decision by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in June 2018—also involving a Salvadoran woman impregnated by her abuser—made asylum claims by survivors of domestic violence significantly more challenging. But in June 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated the prior Matter of A-B- decision, permitting victims of sexual violence to show, as they previously had, that they had suffered harm at the hands of a private actor whom the government was unable or unwilling to control.

In the lead-up to the new hearing date, the Gibson team once again kicked into gear, updating affidavits, obtaining additional evidence, and preparing Ms. N to testify at trial. Given how young she had been when the events took place and the extent of her trauma, it was difficult for Ms. N to relive her experiences and recall the timeline of events; as a therapist who met with Ms.N explained, her trauma manifests as avoidance, complicating the process of drafting her affidavit and preparing her to testify. Throughout this lengthy process, the Gibson team remained patient and understanding, balancing sensitivity to Ms. N’s unique struggles with a commitment to readying her for trial.

Philip, who had worked with Ms. N since the very beginning, led the pre-hearing conferencing with the DHS attorney and delivered opening and closing arguments during the trial. Alexandra led the briefing efforts. Ana conducted the direct examination of Ms. N—a relatively late change in strategy after the team saw during prep sessions that Ms. N appeared more open and comfortable being questioned by a female attorney. Ultimately, after seven years and a four-hour trial, Ms. N was finally granted asylum in early 2023.

In addition to the team’s stellar legal work, what motivated Deirdre Stradone, Co-Deputy Director of the Immigration Intervention Project, to nominate Gibson Dunn for recognition was their trauma-informed lawyering. Like the majority of Sanctuary’s clients, Ms. N has suffered severe and sustained violence in her home country and continues to struggle today. An asylum case is always difficult for a client, who has to relive their trauma and spend hours retelling their story to practice for direct and cross-examination for trial. But Ms. N essentially had to undergo this process three times—each time her trial was scheduled and then cancelled on short notice. Because Ms. N’s trauma manifests as avoidance, she avoided meetings with her attorneys; she regularly cancelled at the last minute, or showed up late, or couldn’t come in person and would take calls from her home.

Deirdre was so impressed with the Gibson team’s tireless, sympathetic, and trauma-informed approach:

“When Ms. N cancelled or was late, the team did everything they could to work around her schedule and make themselves available at her convenience, and never questioned her reasons for cancelling or made her feel guilty about it. They just asked if she was okay and safe. They were always so respectful of her and really allowed for her to feel empowered and understand what was happening in her legal case.”

When Ms. N was finally granted asylum, the joy and relief was palpable on everyone’s faces. Deirdre could see the happiness that the team felt to know that Ms. N was safe, she could remain in the U.S., and we could finally work to bring her son to the U.S. to join her.

Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 25, 2023, as we honor Gibson Dunn’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Naina Rasheed is a Corporate Governance Specialist in the Office of the Corporate Secretary at American International Group, Inc. Naina is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and Co-Chair of this year’s Above and Beyond Pro Bono Awards and Benefit.

Simpson Thacher Secures T-Visa Immigration Status for Labor Trafficking Survivor

Nicole Vescova

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary will honor a Simpson Thacher team for their patient and compassionate pro bono representation.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary is honoring a team of attorneys from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (“Simpson Thacher”) for their patient and compassionate pro bono representation of “Sylvia” in obtaining T Nonimmigrant status. The team consisted of Partner, Leanne Welds; Of Counsel, Mark J. Stein; and former Associate, Suzy R. Yaster.

At the age of 13, Sylvia was forced into an arranged marriage—an event that commenced years of forced labor and abuse in and between Sylvia’s home country and the United States. Following the marriage, Sylvia was immediately taken out of school and moved from her childhood home into the home of her new in-laws, where she was forced to work in domestic servitude for the remainder of her teenage years. In her early twenties, Sylvia was sent to care for her then-ill husband and trafficker in the United States, a country where she knew no one. Her time spent in the United States provided no reprieve for Sylvia. She was kept isolated, preventing her from building any community; subjected to verbal, physical and sexual abuse; and forced to work at the bequest and under the complete control of her trafficker-husband. Sylvia ultimately bore two children by her abuser.

Notwithstanding these painful circumstances, Sylvia’s children are her pride and joy, and were a primary motivation for her bravely seeking assistance to find a safe home for her and her children away from her abusive husband. In 2018, Sylvia was fortuitously connected with Simpson Thacher subsequent to a referral to Sanctuary’s Human Trafficking Intervention Court Clinic in Queens by a partnering organization. Sylvia was immediately identified as a potential trafficking victim. During her intake, Sylvia shared parts of her deeply complex story for the first time with now Partner, Leanne Welds. When Sanctuary for Families sought to refer the matter to the firm, Simpson Thacher generously agreed to assist Sylvia with her application for T Nonimmigrant Status on a pro bono basis.

From the outset, the Simpson Thacher team built rapport with Sylvia, earning her trust and beginning to unravel Sylvia’s story. Over the next four years, Sylvia courageously fled her trafficker with her children, shared her story with legal authorities, and applied for immigration status based on the human trafficking crimes that were committed against her. The Simpson Thacher team spent many hours with Sylvia, preparing the supporting affidavit needed to apply for T Nonimmigrant Status and preparing her to report the crimes against her and respond to questions from the US Attorney’s Office (“USAO”). From conducting mock interviews, to supporting Sylvia at the interview with the USAO, to the careful preparation and submission of Sylvia’s application, Welds described the entire process as a labor of love by the entire Simpson Thacher team. Ultimately, Simpson Thacher’s efforts were successful as Sylvia’s T Nonimmigrant Status application was approved earlier this year.

Welds, Stein and Yaster expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to represent and support Sylvia over the past few years. Welds noted,

“This experience truly highlights that our impact in the world should not always be measured by its breadth but also its depth. Obtaining T Nonimmigrant Status was a life-changing and live-saving experience for Sylvia and her children, an outcome that would likely not have been achieved without significant time commitment and devotion to building the strongest case for Sylvia’s circumstance.”

Jessica-Wind Abolafia, Director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sanctuary for Families, concluded,

“I applaud the Simpson Thacher team for their deeply compassionate, skilled, and patient advocacy. Their steadfast and dedicated representation allowed them to support Sylvia in disclosing her story and even to find healing during the process.”

Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 25, 2023, as we honor Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s outstanding pro bono work.

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Nicole Vescova is an associate in the Miami office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, and a member of its Labor & Employment Practice, where she regularly defends employers of all sizes and sectors against all types of employment claims. Nicole is also a member of Sanctuary for Families’ Pro Bono Counsel.

Latham & Watkins Team Secure Clemency Grant for Incarcerated Survivor

Romy Felsen-Parsons

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary will honor a Latham & Watkins team for their outstanding work securing a clemency grant for an incarcerated survivor.

At this year’s Above & Beyond Awards, Sanctuary for Families is thrilled to honor Latham & Watkins’ Melange Gavin, Wendy Gu, and Jamie Wine, and former Latham attorneys Brittany Ehardt and Jaclyn Newman, for their outstanding work securing a clemency grant for an incarcerated survivor of gender-based violence.

Last year, we shared on our blog that, after over 10 years of incarceration, domestic violence survivor Jacqueline Smalls had been granted clemency by Governor Kathy Hochul. Today, we are honored to highlight the Above & Beyond honorees who made this happen through their outstanding dedication, creative lawyering, and advocacy. Latham & Watkins associates Melange Gavin and Wendy Gu, and former associates Brittany Ehardt and Jaclyn Newman, with supervision and strategic guidance from partner Jamie Wine, worked with Jacqueline over a period of three years. During this time, they built a strong relationship with their client and worked tirelessly to advocate for her release, focusing on both a Domestic Violence Survivors’ Justice Act (DVSJA) resentencing motion and a clemency grant as possible pathways to her freedom.

Both options posed significant challenges: while a DVSJA motion would reduce Jacqueline’s sentence, resulting in her release for time served under the more favorable DVSJA sentencing guidelines, it would also have required a difficult and retraumatizing resentencing hearing. A clemency grant, meanwhile, relied entirely on the discretion of the governor’s office, and necessitated an enormous amount of work with no guarantee that it would result in success given the low numbers of clemency grants awarded each year. The team ultimately decided to pursue the clemency path anyway, knowing that if it were unsuccessful, they could pivot to a DVSJA motion down the line. As part of this process, the Latham team worked on a comprehensive clemency application that included a video of Jacqueline and other survivor clemency applicants, engaged in extensive legal advocacy, and met with the governor’s clemency bureau.

The case for Jacqueline’s release was extraordinarily compelling. During their two-year relationship, Jacqueline’s partner had subjected her to intense physical abuse—including strangulation, one of the highest lethality risk factors—and had been subsequently arrested several times. On the night of August 26, 2012, Jacqueline’s abuser entered her home in violation of two Orders of Protection that she had obtained against him. As her abuser moved to confront Jacqueline, she stabbed him once with a kitchen knife, killing him. Despite the obvious history of domestic violence, trauma, and clear danger to Jacqueline that evening, prosecutors charged her with second-degree murder. Jacqueline ultimately entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter and received a 15-year sentence. On December 21, 2022, Governor Hochul announced that she was granting clemency to Jaqueline, along with twelve others. Sanctuary and the Latham team were overjoyed with the news.

We are so thrilled to highlight the incredible work undertaken by Jaclyn, Melange, Wendy, Brittany, and Jamie. Thanks to their advocacy, Jacqueline was released and reunited with her family in January 2023. Staff members from Sanctuary were present alongside the Latham team to welcome Jacqueline home and join her and her family for Jacqueline’s first meal outside prison in over 10 years. It was truly incredible to witness firsthand the warmth and trust that had developed between the team and Jacqueline after their years of fighting together to correct this failure of our criminal legal system.

Director of the Incarcerated Gender Violence Survivors Initiative Ross Kramer said,

“The Latham team’s outstanding legal work made a life-changing impact in this case. They believed in Jacqueline from the start, and they delivered. Their representation gave Jacqueline years of her life back, to spend with family, friends, and community. This would not have happened without the Latham team’s advocacy, creativity, and dedication.”

Latham’s Public Service Counsel and Director of Global Pro Bono Laura Atkinson-Hope concluded,

“Securing clemency for Ms. Smalls was the result of tremendous dedication and tireless effort from the team as well as incredible strategic guidance from Sanctuary for Families. I am so proud of everyone involved in achieving this result, and so grateful for our longstanding partnership with Sanctuary.”

To read more about this incredible case, including our interview with the team, please see here.

Join us at our Above & Beyond Awards Ceremony on October 25, 2023, as we honor Latham & Watkins’ outstanding pro bono work.

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Romy Felsen-Parsons is the Pro Bono Project Assistant at Sanctuary for Families.