Kramer Levin Succeeds in Overturning Denial of Asylum for Cuban Political Dissident

Kramer Levin succeeded in overturning the denial of asylum for a Cuban political dissident who had been beaten, interrogated, and detained by the Cuban National Police before he escaped the country on a makeshift raft.  He had spent nearly two years in immigration detention in Louisiana. Kramer Levin got involved in the case in the summer of 2019, after the immigration court denied his pro se application for asylum on a finding that his mistreatment had not amounted to persecution and his fear of future persecution was not well-founded.

Kramer Levin appealed the denial to the Fifth Circuit on the existing record and, simultaneously, moved the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to reopen the administrative proceeding based on newly available evidence that Cuban authorities were still searching for the client at the family home and had beaten, interrogated, and detained his father in an effort to locate him. The BIA granted the motion to reopen. On remand, the immigration court granted the asylum request, mooting the Fifth Circuit appeal.

While these appeals were pending, Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to deport the client to Cuba. The team won emergency stays of removal from both the Fifth Circuit and the BIA. The client was returned from the airfield to a detention facility, where he remained until he was granted asylum.  ICE rejected our requests to have him released from detention during the pandemic.

The Kramer Levin team consisted of Litigation associates Aaron L. Webman and Astrid M. Ackerman, and law clerk Alexander Gelb, supervised by special counsel Marjorie Sheldon. Jerry Henriquez and Santo Cipolla provided paralegal assistance.