Making a Firm Commitment to Unaccompanied Children
- Monday, November 09, 2009 |
- Written by Ariana Zuno
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Paul Hastings is going above and beyond the call of duty to help unaccompanied children in the United States. The firm has taken on many cases, and, without regard to the potential relief available, its attorneys have worked relentlessly to ensure that their child clients are provided high-quality legal representation and are active and informed participants in their proceedings.
"Working with children in any context makes you realize how vulnerable they are," says Brian Moran, who helps coordinate Paul Hastings' pro bono work with KIND, along with James Gilliam in Los Angeles, Raquel Bierzwinsky in Washington, D.C., and Daniel Blaser in New York. "But with the kids we're seeing through KIND, it's so much more apparent. No child should have to go through immigration proceedings alone."
The law firm is handling 19 cases, helping children ranging in age from eight to 19 years old. "I believe that our responsibility is to do our absolute best in helping these children, regardless of the result," Moran says. "I'm happy that KIND has trusted these cases to us. And as long as we do all we can, no result would ever make me wish we hadn't taken the case."
Together with Robin Arzon and Rosetta Kromer, Moran and Blaser are working on a particularly difficult case: an 18-year-old girl from El Salvador who came to the United States when she was 16. Mavis* lived in a house between the turf of two violent gangs with her mother, a nine-year-old brother, and two sisters. Mavis witnessed a great deal of violence, including a man being hacked to death by a machete. Mavis and her family were particularly vulnerable because no adult male lived with them. The men in the neighborhood constantly harassed Mavis and her sisters. On one occasion, a man broke into their home at night and threatened Mavis and her younger sister. The situation became even more desperate when Mavis's mother's boyfriend began making sexual advances towards Mavis.
Mavis was determined to escape the abuse, and made her way through Mexico and into the U.S. The journey was difficult and dangerous and took several weeks. While in the Mexican desert, Mavis came upon a severely injured woman lying next to her dead infant son. The coyotes in charge of her journey refused to stop to help the woman, and Mavis knew she could do nothing for her, or she would be left behind to die as well. Mavis has been haunted by this memory ever since.
Later on in her desert crossing, Mavis became weakened and nearly gave up, but was fortunate to be helped by one of the men in the group. Among the difficulties she faced, Mavis and others were stacked - lying on one another horizontally - in the back of a truck for days in the stifling heat with only one bottle of water to share among them.
Mavis was picked up by immigration officials in a house in Texas where the coyotes were holding her because they wanted money from her father, who lived in the U.S.
It took the Paul Hastings team a long time to learn all of the details of Mavis's story. Arzon and Kromer were able to communicate with Mavis in her native language, and their easy rapport with Mavis allowed them to explore the very personal details of Mavis's ordeal that were essential in preparing her asylum affidavit.
The Paul Hastings team is pursuing parallel tracks in Mavis's case. It is seeking derivative temporary protected status (TPS) through her father (who has been living in the U.S. for about nine years), while also applying for asylum. Mavis is now a senior in high school and is living with her father.
Neither Moran nor Blaser is a stranger to pro bono work or tough stories. Before becoming a lawyer, Moran worked with abused and neglected children in the South Bronx, New York, as well as with families who had children with AIDS. After a few years, he left the practice of law to become an assistant commissioner for the New York City Administration for Children's Services, overseeing the care of teenagers in the city's foster care system, and programs for them. He has since found a home at Paul Hastings, a firm that dedicates tremendous resources to support both pro bono and community service initiatives. "Immigration was a new issue to me, but kids were not. It still stuns me to know that so many children are forced to go through this incredibly intimidating process alone. It is shocking to the conscience."
Blaser first got involved in immigration pro bono work through his sister, who worked with an organization that helps survivors of domestic violence. He helped them apply for U visas and prepared Violence Against Women Act petitions. "I feel a real responsibility to help the kids KIND brings to us. I cannot imagine what it would feel like - as a child - to be away from my family, in a foreign country, and be caught up in legal proceedings which I could not hope to understand."
Moran says that another advantage to working with KIND is being able to bring in people from all different practice areas in the firm to collaborate as a team on each case. "We want to learn from KIND and its partners as we go forward in order to follow best practices where appropriate and develop new strategies where called for. We hope that this partnership will assist unaccompanied children and their lawyers for years to come."
"Paul Hastings's commitment to KIND and to unaccompanied children has been truly overwhelming," says KIND pro bono coordinator Anne Marie Mulcahy. "It is amazing to see the dedication and passion so imbued in their work. We are grateful for their unconditional support and honored to be working closely with so many wonderful attorneys and legal assistants."
*Child's name changed to protect her identity.
