NON-DETAINED REMOVAL CASES:
Case #1: Ms. T from Cameroon
“The only way to survive is to fight for your rights. We were treated like second class citizens.”
Ms. T is a citizen of Cameroon filing for asylum based on her political opinion. As an active member of the Southern Cameroon National Council, Ms. T has experienced persecution from the Cameroonian military in the form of beatings, rape, and imprisonment.
Ms. T has been an active member of the SCNC since 2012 and has often participated in and helped to organize and publicize protests and marches in support of Anglophone rights in Cameroon. In June 2016, she was arrested after an event in support of education rights. When Ms. T and her classmates refused to desist from their SCNC activities, they were threatened and beaten. Ms. T was held for a month, then managed to escape from custody and fled to the U.S. There is an open warrant for Ms. T’s arrest in Cameroon and she is featured on wanted posters there.
Ms. T most recently entered the United States on August 22, 2016, on an F-1 student visa. Ms. T filed an affirmative application for asylum before the one-year deadline. In summer 2020, the asylum office referred her to the Immigration Court. She speaks English and lives in Redwing, MN. Ms. T’s next Master Calendar Hearing is scheduled for February 3rd, 2021 at 9 am before Judge Brian Sardelli at the Fort Snelling, MN Immigration Court.
Case #2: Mr. T from Liberia
Mr. T is a citizen of Liberia filing for asylum based on being a member of social group. As a Basa man, Mr. T has experienced and faced persecution from Sande and Porous Society in the form of physical assault and threats from the community.
In 2009 Mr. T was survivor of a rocket blast, he got injured and was rushed to the hospital. From there Mr. T’s health began to deteriorate. In 2013 he noticed some hardness on the side of his abdomen.
In 2014, he decided to visit his mother and daughter in her rural village. At the time Mr. T has no idea about the Porous Society and their ways. Mr. T belongs to the Basa people and the Sande and Porous Society have traditional practices, and people are forced to go through their initiation. Mr. T was kidnapped and was tortured. He was undressed, tied, and beaten. Mr. T escaped and was able to get to back to Monrovia.
He began advocating against the Porous Society, using his experiences as proof of their ways. People began throwing stones and threatening him about exposing the practices of the Porous Society. Mr. T also went through spiritual attacks and was constantly worried about his safety.
In 2017 his health worsened, and he was in and out of hospital. He also found out there was a mass growing in his abdomen that was pushing on his kidney. Mr. T’s friends advised him to apply for a Visa to the U.S to get medical attention. Mr. T’s father who worked on a radio station died mysteriously; Mr. T thinks it might have been because he did not want his son join the society.
In 2018 he was issued a visa and he decided to come to the U.S. He arrived in June 2018 and applied for asylum pro se. His case was referred to the Immigration Court. He is scheduled for a master calendar hearing before Judge Sardelli on February 20, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. at the Fort Snelling Immigration Court. He speaks English and lives in St. Louis Park, MN.
Case #3: Mr. S from Democratic Republic of Congo
Mr. S is a citizen of Democratic Republic of Congo filing for asylum based on his political opinion. As a peaceful protester against government corruption, Mr. S has experienced persecution from the Congolese Government in the form of torture.
Mr. S became politically active in response to the corruption of the Kabila administration. He was apprehended by the DRC police because of his presence at a political rally. He was taken to an unknown facility and tortured. He was held at that facility along with several others for several months. Many of the other political prisoners who were detained with him died after being tortured. Someone he knew amongst the police helped him escape. It was later revealed that prisoners detained at this facility died of torture and were buried in mass graves. Mr. S escaped Congo with the help of people he knew and traveled through various countries before reaching the US with his family to seek political asylum in the United States.
Mr. S most recently entered the United States on 06/04/2019, without inspection. Mr. S was held in detention and released on 11/04/2019. Mr. S filed an initial asylum application with the assistance of The Advocates, and needs help supplementing his application and preparing for his hearing. His master calendar hearing is currently scheduled for November 24, 2020 before Judge Hansen. He speaks Lingala and French and lives in St. Paul, MN.
Case #4: Mr. R from El Salvador,
“Son of a b****, we are going to kill you if you don’t tell us the truth.”
Mr. R is a citizen of El Salvador filing for asylum based on death threats and beatings he received as a witness to police corruption.
He was a witness to a bribe between a man and a police officer in which substantial funds were exchanged. He was spotted by one of the individuals involved in the transaction and was called out and actively pursued as he ran away. The next day he was abducted by the police, who interrogated and brutally physically assaulted him. While they were beating him, they were asking him what he had witnessed.
They threatened him not disclose any of the information that he had seen. The abductors also said that they would give him another chance so he should disappear before the other party in the exchange found him. Mr. R took these threats seriously and fled from his home. Since he fled, his sister has mentioned noticing the police observing her house more consistently.
Mr. R is afraid to go back to his country for fear that his abductors as well as the parties involved in the exchange will fulfill their threats and end his life Mr. R most recently entered the United States on October of 2017. Mr. R was held in detention and released two months later. A pro bono attorney assisted with filing the asylum application with the immigration court, but is moving out of the country and has to withdraw. Mr. R's next master calendar hearing is on December 18, 2020, in Fort Snelling, MN. He speaks Spanish and lives in Saint Paul, MN.
Case #5: Ms. A from Cameroon
“In detention they beat me up, whipped me, sprayed itchy water all over my naked body, they raped me multiple times. I didn’t have access to a restroom, they gave me leftovers of food once in a while and a bottle of water sometimes. That’s all.”
Ms. A is a citizen of Cameroon filing for asylum based on her political activism and opinions (both real and imputed). As a member of the Social Democratic Front, Ms. A has experienced and faces persecution from the Cameroonian government in the form of torture, rape and death.
Ms. A was unfairly arrested during a protest in which she did not participate in 2008. After being beaten up, whipped and humiliated, she was released the day after. She started getting politically active and joined the SDF, an opposition party. In 2014 she was unlawfully arrested and detained for a week for her political activism. During her detention she was violently beaten up, whipped and raped multiple times. When she was released, she had to stay in a hospital for 2 weeks. She kept doing politics but more discreetly. In 2017 she was once again arrested, but she managed to escape and then spent 6 months living in hiding before leaving for the U.S.
Ms. A most recently entered the United States on 02/13/2018, on a B2 visitor visa. Ms. A filed her affirmative application for asylum on 02/06/2019, just before her one-year deadline on 02/12/2019. Ms. A had her asylum interview in June 2019. Her case was referred to the immigration judge and her first master calendar hearing is on 11/30/2021 at 1:00 pm at the Fort Snelling Immigration Court. She speaks French and lives in Minneapolis, MN.
