Pedro, a torture survivor from Equatorial Guinea and a former CAIR Coalition client is featured in a recent UNHCR video.
When Pedro arrived in the U.S. in 2011 he immediately requested asylum – and was promptly detained. Current U.S. law mandates the detention of all arriving asylum seekers. If an arriving asylum seeker passes what is called a “credible fear” interview, he or she is then permitted to apply for asylum before an immigration judge. However, in many cases, the individual remains detained pending their asylum hearing.
CAIR Coalition assists arriving asylum seekers with the credible fear interview process, letting them know what to expect and providing a volunteer or in-house attorney to accompany them to the interview. CAIR Coalition staff attorney Amar Nair assisted Pedro with his interview which he passed. CAIR Coalition then found a pro bono attorney for Pedro, placing his case with Stacey Tyrewala at the law firm of Alston & Bird. Ms. Tyrewala assisted Pedro in getting paroled from detention and subsequently won his asylum case.
