Pro Bono News

The Devil Wears Prada: Lawful Permanent Residence Granted for Mormon Self-Identified Openly Gay Male

Sunday, July 05, 2009

  • Christopher Nugent
  • Holland & Knight LLP

An Arlington, Virginia Immigration Judge recently granted Teddy*, a self-identified gay Mormon pro bono client, special rule cancellation of removal under the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) based on his egregious experiences of domestic violence and extreme cruelty he suffered at the hands of his former United States Citizen spouse. This remedy results in his lawful permanent residence in the United States- and permanent protection against homophobic violence, prosecution and persecution if deported to Trinidad as an openly gay man.

As a child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Teddy was repeatedly sexually abused by his uncle and a police officer over the protracted period of 16 years. After meeting some Mormon missionaries and converting to the Mormon religion in 1991, Teddy was able to escape the sexual abuse by serving on a Mormon mission to the United States. Teddy was then awarded a scholarship to attend a Mormon University in the United States where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. He then pursued his Master's Degree at another Mormon University. It was during this time that Teddy met his first wife, who tragically died from a brain hemorrhage only one month after they married.

Devastated by the loss of his wife, Teddy turned to friends for support and encouragement. During a night out at a local gay bar in Honolulu, Teddy met a US military officer. After several drinks, the officer took Teddy back to his hotel, where he raped Teddy into unconsciousness, leaving him bloodied.

Severely depressed and distraught, Teddy moved to Utah to try to put the pieces of his life back together. In the fall of 2003, some Mormon friends introduced Teddy to his second wife, a United States Citizen. Shortly after their marriage, Teddy shockingly realized that the woman he had come to marry was an abusive, sadomasochistic individual who consistently abused him psychologically, physically and even sexually. As examples, besides physically beating him, Teddy’s wife treated him as a human ashtray, burning his body with cigarettes; pouring hot wax on his genitalia; and forcefully penetrating him with obscure sexual apparatuses. During one particularly frightful incident, Teddy’s wife placed a knife to his throat and demanded that he give her money to pay off an old loan.

The abuse culminated in December 2003 when Teddy awoke in the middle of the night to find his wife sitting on his chest with her gun placed on his forehead and threatened to kill him. The two were divorced in March 2004 and shortly thereafter at the suggestion of a friend Teddy moved to metro Washington, D.C. Through extensive counseling sessions and support from the local D.C. community, Teddy finally learned to accept himself as an openly gay Mormon.

In 2007, after the Department of Homeland Security initiated immigration removal proceedings against Teddy, Teddy sought pro bono representation from the Community Services Team at Holland & Knight LLP. In Immigration Court, Teddy applied for both special rule cancellation of removal as the victim of his spouse's domestic violence and extreme cruelty and asylum, withholding of removal and withholding under the United States Convention against Torture as an openly gay man- subject to deportation to a country where consensual homosexuality carries severe criminal penalties.

With the advocacy of Holland & Knight's pro bono senior counsel Christopher Nugent, and law student interns Rukayya Furo, Rachel Downey and Susham Modi, on June 16, 2009, after several hours of Teddy's testimony and a plethora of expert and lay witness proffers, the Immigration Judge generously granted Teddy special rule cancellation of removal under VAWA. The Department of Homeland Security graciously stipulated to this relief and waived appeal.

That evening, in a heart-warming email to his legal team, Teddy stated: "I know this sounds so simple. But from the depth of my soul and my heart thank you for saving my life. By giving me back hope, a meaning to life and a belief that this is my life. I owe you my future. Your time, energy, devotion, insight, wisdom and fierce desire to right the wrong in this world. You are heralded in worlds unknown and for years to come will always be respected."

*Name changed to protect client's identity

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