Hughes Hubbard Achieves Asylum for Persecuted Gay Man

Hughes Hubbard & Reed successfully represented a gay Belizean man in obtaining asylum in the United States on the basis that he was at risk of persecution in his home country in Central America. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted the client’s application for asylum on March 26, 2013.

The 24-year old client came to the US in May 2011 to escape persecution he experienced in a Central American country where homosexuality remains a crime punishable by imprisonment. After receiving the case from Immigration Equality, Hughes Hubbard attorneys worked with the client to compile evidence documenting the mistreatment, discrimination and ostracism the client experienced before coming to the US.

In his home country, the client was physically attacked and harassed in school for being perceived as gay; his teachers and the police turned a blind eye. And after he came out to his family, they disowned him and kicked him out of his home. Worried for his physical safety if he were forced to return to his country, the client sought asylum in the US, where he now hopes to live openly and without fear of being persecuted.

The client was represented by Danny Grossman, Quan Trinh and Chris Wild, who conducted the fact-gathering interviews and drafted the supporting documents, with supervision from Hagit Elul and assistance from Meaghan Gragg. After learning that the USCIS had granted his asylum application, the client said that he had been nervous for weeks and that he could not have obtained asylum without the help of his attorneys.