Pro Bono News
A Day in US Immigration Court: Lots of Cases, Not Much Resolution (VA)
Thursday, September 28, 2017
- VOA News
- Link: https://www.voanews.com
"ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA —
Suzan stood before Immigration Judge John M. Bryant, asking for more time in her deportation case, which was already more than a few years old.
The El Salvadoran transgender woman, who prefers not to be identified by her real name, came to the United States 20 years ago as a teenager, fleeing persecution. She was detained at the border.
Deportation proceedings never caught up with her — for a while, she was homeless and living on the streets — until about six years ago, when she was at a nightclub where a fight broke out. She was not charged, but police told her story to immigration officials.
"They were about to deport her. When [Suzan's] boyfriend called me and said, 'Look, we've got this situation,' " we filed a motion to reopen her case, Suzan's lawyer, Xavier Racine, told VOA..."