Help with asylum direction

[eileeninmaine]

New to this site, would appreciate some help. I'm a mental health counselor in Maine working with a client from Somalia, 70, who came illegally in 2004, (was told she would be helped get a green card), instead was dropped off in front of a restaurant in Atlanta. Apparently she applied for asylum (application incorrectly completed by an interpreter), was denied as she couldn't prove her entry date, and was ordered removed, then withheld. Now she wants to go to Djibouti to visit family, is told she can't by a legal aid from Boston. We are having trouble finding anyone who can help her, all the lawyers here who help with immigration free or low cost are backed up. She wants to "go before a judge to either get asylum or papers to leave to visit family", any ideas?

 

[dafortycal]

She has been ordered deported from the United States, but they were kind enough not to send her back to her country. All she needs is a Somalia passport and enough money for a ticket home. She just cannot return to the USA. Too bad, so sad, she was afraid to return and now she can not since she was afraid of he own people.

New to this site, would appreciate some help. I'm a mental health counselor in Maine working with a client from Somalia, 70, who came illegally in 2004, (was told she would be helped get a green card), instead was dropped off in front of a restaurant in Atlanta. Apparently she applied for asylum (application incorrectly completed by an interpreter), was denied as she couldn't prove her entry date, and was ordered removed, then withheld. Now she wants to go to Djibouti to visit family, is told she can't by a legal aid from Boston. We are having trouble finding anyone who can help her, all the lawyers here who help with immigration free or low cost are backed up. She wants to "go before a judge to either get asylum or papers to leave to visit family", any ideas?

 

[BigJoe5]

Withholding of Removal (WOR)-The “Booby-Prize” of Immigration Status

Withholding of removal is the last bastion of the desperate. It is given to someone who has been found to be removable and has been ordered removed. However, in its beneficence and out of pity, the U.S. exercises discretion in the alien’s favor only because removing that alien would “more likely than not” result in either: persecution, torture, or death. Depending on the individual circumstances, the alien could be kept detained for a long period of time or even indefinitely, interrupted only by periodic trips to Immigration Court for a bond hearing or re-determination.

Most WOR recipients do get released and are allowed to obtain an employment authorization document (EAD). The I-765 is filed for the EAD and the category is (a)(10). There is NO FEE for the EAD but it is issued only one year at a time. Why is this? It is so DHS can keep tabs on the WOR recipient so, if and when, an opportunity to remove the alien should arise, ICE knows where to find the person to be removed.

When an individual granted WOR voluntarily returns to the place from whence removal was withheld, that is the end of the story. They can't come back.

 

[mksu19]

New to this site, would appreciate some help. I'm a mental health counselor in Maine working with a client from Somalia, 70, who came illegally in 2004, (was told she would be helped get a green card), instead was dropped off in front of a restaurant in Atlanta. Apparently she applied for asylum (application incorrectly completed by an interpreter), was denied as she couldn't prove her entry date, and was ordered removed, then withheld. Now she wants to go to Djibouti to visit family, is told she can't by a legal aid from Boston. We are having trouble finding anyone who can help her, all the lawyers here who help with immigration free or low cost are backed up. She wants to "go before a judge to either get asylum or papers to leave to visit family", any ideas?

A Somalee native cannot be deported back to his/her country. If he/she was to be detained by ICE, he/she will have to be released (without papers) in 90 days after she signs her deportation order. Or he/she can remain in detention and ask the courts to re-open her immigration case (which might take a while) by citing "ineffectiveness of counsel" due to the fact that he/she was misrepresented (through interpretation). In either case, no person originally from Somalia can ever be deported!

...When an individual granted WOR voluntarily returns to the place from whence removal was withheld, that is the end of the story. They can't come back.

The same is said for an Asylee! An asylee cannot go back to his/her native country after beeing granted his/her asylum for any reason. He/she will default as USCIS will interpret such action(s) as the asylee/refugee no longer having fear from that country.

 

[aosing]

Eileen in Maine: It is indeed kind of you to be doing some footwork for your 70-year-old client. However you would be committing professional malpractice if you were to advise your client regarding his immigration issues. As a mental health professional I am sure you can understand this and would not expect lawyers to practice therapy. Your client has apparently already gotten actual legal advice that if he leaves he can't come back, and dafortycal has provided his usual terse and succinct explanation of why this is so. If pro bono lawyers have far more pressing business, then you should not extend beyond your license or expertise to personally and illegally advise or litigate your client's immigration situation based on an anonymous internet forum.

He can't go to Djibouti and come back and will just have to deal with it, and maybe that's something you can actually help him with.