HHR Obtains Green Cards for Longstanding Pro Bono Client

November 2022 - HHR recently wrapped up its pro bono representation of a woman who fled to the U.S. from gender-based violence and sexual assault in Honduras, obtaining permanent resident status for our client and two of her children after years of assisting with their immigration status.

In 2016, an HHR team obtained asylum for our client after she fled from gender-based violence in El Salvador and Honduras. From an early age, HHR’s client was sexually abused and violently assaulted by her father and other male family members. In 2006, she fled to the United Stated at the age of 19. She was detained by immigration authorities in June 2007 and placed in removal proceedings, at which time the matter was referred to HHR.

The firm represented our client through long and arduous asylum proceedings for nearly a decade, and finally secured asylum for her through negotiations with the U.S. government in August 2016, minutes before a hearing was set to begin. With help from a state senator and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, HHR also secured asylum for our client’s two children, whom she had not seen for over a decade. In 2021 and 2022, the firm helped obtain lawful permanent resident status for our client and her children, providing some finality for her 15 years after she was originally placed in removal proceedings. During the course of the representation, HHR also helped our client and her children obtain social security numbers, driver's licenses and work permits, and assisted on interim crises – such as when her two children were detained in Mexico en route to the United States.

Daniel McLaughlin, who has led the firm’s efforts since the case was first referred in 2007, helped to obtain asylum for our client. Shayda Vance later helped to bring our client’s children to join her in the United States. Most recently, Evan Cooper and Daniela Alvarez worked to secure lawful permanent resident status for our client and her children.