Recent Case Victories From HIRC at GBLS

Via the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program

Since the beginning, HIRC has partnered with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), the largest provider of free legal services in Massachusetts. GBLS is also the site of the HIRC at GBLS side of the Clinic. Here are just a few of the many victories won by HIRC at GBLS over the past year:

HIRC at GBLS won asylum grants for:

• An indigenous woman and mother of six from Guatemala who suffered severe domestic violence for 25 years at the hands of her husband. Supervisor: Maggie Morgan. Clinical students: Katrina Black ’19 and Brooke Adams ’20.
• A Salvadoran mother and daughter who suffered severe domestic violence and gang based threats. Supervisor: John Willshire Carrera. Clinical students: Evelyn Zheng ’18, Brianna Rennix ’18 and other clinical students.
• A young Haitian political activist who was targeted for violence by political opponents for her attempts to expose electoral corruption and advocate for women’s rights. Supervisor: Maggie Morgan. Clinical student: Elisabeth Mabus ’19.
• A detained indigenous client from Ecuador who suffered past persecution on account of his race and for being a member of an evangelical family. Supervisor: John Willshire Carrera.
• Two teenage sisters from El Salvador who were targeted by gangs and persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Supervisor: Nancy Kelly. Clinical students: Mathew Scarvie ’18 and Natalie Ritchie ’19.

HIRC at GBLS won grants of withholding of removal for:

• A detained Honduran man who was a semi-professional soccer player of Garifuna (Afro-Caribbean) ethnicity who suffered racial persecution in Honduras. Supervisors: Maggie Morgan and Nancy Kelly. Clinical student: Abhinaya Swaminathan ’18.
• A detained indigenous client from Guatemala who suffered past persecution during the Guatemalan Civil war. Supervisor: John Willshire Carrera. Clinical students: Kolja Ortmann ’19 and Maya Ragsdale ’18.
• A detained Guatemalan whose family was targeted for their work with a human rights group. Supervisor: Nancy Kelly. Clinical student: Alex McGriff ’20.

Thank you to the attorneys and students for all their hard work on behalf of our clients!