MCM, a 17-year-old from Honduras, left his country in 2004 after his brother was killed by MS-13 gang members. Knowing he would be next, he made the perilous journey north at the age of 10 to live with his godmother in Texas. Once here, he filed for asylum and testified before an immigration judge in Texas at the age of 11. The immigration judge granted him asylum after hearing how MCM had been terrorized, threatened and beaten by the same gang members who killed his brother. When the Department of Homeland (DHS) Security appealed the decision, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the judge’s order and directed that MCM be deported.
However, MCM, continuing to fear for his life, didn’t leave and remained in the United States. In July of 2011, MCM was apprehended and detained at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center where he was interviewed by Ashley Ham Pong, staff attorney for CAIR Coalition’s Detained Children’s project. Ms. Ham Pong successfully argued that under a 2008 law that affords unaccompanied alien children additional protections when applying for asylum, MCM was entitled to have his case reviewed by the Arlington Asylum Office.
This gave Ms. Ham Pong the opportunity to prepare new legal arguments, citing recent case law, stating that MCM would suffer persecution on account of his family ties. Specifically, MCM's brother had been best friends with a gang member, who turned against him and killed him so that he could move up in the MS-13 hierarchy. Since then, MS-13 has continued to target the family.
In addition, CAIR Coalition submitted new supplementary documents, such as newspaper articles showing that one of MCM's family members had been recently killed, and showing that Honduras is even more dangerous than before. CAIR Coalition received the grant of asylum just days before MCM's 18th birthday, at which time, he would have been transferred over to ICE custody and placed in an adult jail. Instead, thanks to the efforts of Ms. Ham Pong, MCM is now free and has been reunited with family members living in the U.S.
