Manatt secured asylum for an Afghan Client, SM, who escaped Afghanistan as part of Operation Allies Welcome and sought asylum before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
SM is Shi’a Sadat Muslim and was targeted nearly his entire life in Afghanistan because of his religion and ethnicity, as the Sadat people are subjected to violence and persecution by the Taliban. SM and his family were at the Kabul airport trying to leave Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 when SM was separated from his wife and children. SM made the difficult decision to board a U.S. flight without his family, thinking they would be able to follow him on a different flight.
In a detailed declaration and during his asylum interview, SM described having to flee the Taliban as a young child because of his ethnicity and religious beliefs and to live in hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan before finding safety in Iran. When SM returned to Afghanistan as an adult, he described his life in Kabul as being as happy as possible when forced to live in constant fear of a terrorist attack either by the Taliban or ISIS. It was this fear that prompted him and his family to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021.
Following his interview in April 2023, SM waited over a year for USCIS to grant his claim for asylum. Manatt represented SM through every step of the asylum process including drafting his asylum application and declaration, collecting supporting documentation, representing SM at his two interviews at USCIS offices and pursuing all available options to obtain a decision from the USCIS asylum office, including seeking congressional assistance.
Now that SM has asylum, he is looking forward to continuing to rebuild his life and to begin the process of reuniting with his wife and three children.
The case referred to Manatt by pro bono partner HIAS. Pro Bono Attorney Alexandra McCown represented SM, with assistance from Sirena Castillo.