Updated: 03/17/2021

Below are summaries of the current cases in need of representation. If you are interested in one of the following cases or have any questions, please contact Rachel Naggar. If you have a detained case that you would like to refer to the BIA Pro Bono Project, please fill out the following form.

BIA Appeals 

Petitions for Review

Case Number: 111920-112

Detention Region: Arizona

Nationality: Cuba

Language: Spanish

Appeal Filed By: Respondent

Important Due Dates: The brief is due on March 31. With a three-week extension, it will be due on April 21.
 
Relief Applications: Respondent applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture.
 
Summary of Facts and Opinion:
The Respondent is a citizen of Cuba. He fled after being detained and beaten several times by the Cuban police. He believes he was detained because he had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the Cuban government in February 2019. He also joined an opposition group called Momiento Opasitor Nueva Republica (MONR) in 2017. He attended group meetings and put up posters against the government. The Immigration Judge did not spend much time developing the record at the individual hearing. There is very little testimony regarding each of the Respondent’s arrests or the harm that he suffered during his detentions. Instead, the IJ and DHS simultaneously and jointly cross-examined the Respondent about his asylum application and supporting evidence. The Respondent’s asylum application stated that his first encounter with the government began in 2001, when he put up a flag or sign against the government at his daughter’s birthday party. The next time that the Respondent had any issues with the police was in 2019. As a result, the IJ doubted the veracity of the Respondent’s claim from the beginning.
 
The IJ ultimately found the Respondent not credible. The IJ cites several reasons for this. From the transcript, the Respondent appears to clearly state that his arrests and detentions were the result of the police knowing he opposed the government and that he was part of the MONR opposition group. However the IJ found that the Respondent could not clearly articulate why he was being arrested. They may be because there wasn’t a specific incident that caused each arrest — the arrests were merely to intimidate and silence the Respondent. The IJ found it implausible that the Respondent would have been able to travel to Havana to obtain a visa to Nicaragua, and then to fly out of the Odin airport without being stopped. The IJ doesn’t provide any explanation or cite any evidence for his belief that the Cuban government should or would have prevented the Respondent from leaving the country — this appears to be the IJ’s personal belief. The Respondent submitted a letter from the coordinator of MONR, but the letter did not detail the Respondent’s arrests and detentions, or mention that just prior to fleeing the country the Respondent resigned from the group. The Respondent also submitted a declaration in that he said the police attacked him with a dog. In court, he said that he was just scratched by the dog. Largely as a result of finding the Respondent not credible, the IJ denied all forms of relief.