Detroit attorney Donovan Asmar recently took on a pro bono project that vividly illustrates the dramatic change a few hours of an attorney’s time can make in the lives of people facing tremendous challenges.
Mohammed and his family are Shi’a Muslims. While living in Iraq in 1999, members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist party broke into the family’s home and accused them of opposing Hussein. The intruders beat and arrested them, holding them for almost a year. Although the Hussein regime was ousted in 2003, Hussein’s supporters continued their persecution of Mohammed and his family.
Mohammed’s uncle was an Iraqi judge. After Hussein was tried and executed, his supporters targeted the judges and their families. In 2004, Mohammed narrowly escaped death when armed men opened fire on a car in which he was riding, killing his brother-in-law who worked with the new Iraqi government. In 2006, armed men again broke into his house in the middle of the night and, in front of his family, beat him with rifles and steel-toe boots. The men ransacked the house, stole his computers, and punctured his car tires. They kidnapped and tortured Mohammed, demanding information about his uncle, the judge. Before they released him, they threatened to kill his family if they found out that he worked with his uncle.
Despite all this, Mohammed completed his schooling. Still, he was unable to obtain a job in Iraq. Terrified and wanting a better life for his family, in 2011 Mohammed applied for visas for his family to enter the U.S. He and his family eventually moved to Kalamazoo, where Mohammed earned his Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. The family applied for asylum, citing the violence and persecution to which they would be subject in Iraq. Asylum was granted in 2014, allowing them to remain in the U.S. In 2015, the family sought to become permanent residents, a process commonly known as applying for “green cards.” The family successfully received their green cards on November 31st.
Donovan, who had sought out pro bono work involving Iraqi refugees, eagerly took on Mohammed and his family as clients in their effort to gain permanent residency. It was a daunting task that involved completing applications for five family members and gathering hundreds of pages of supporting documentation. But Donovan dove into what was a new area of law for him and helped the family through every step of the process. In June, Donovan submitted the final applications. Meanwhile, he says he found it “incredibly rewarding to assist such a brave and deserving family,” assistance which helped Mohammed and his family take this important step in their new lives.
-Eisha Vatsal, Robert Mathis, and Lynn Ingram contributed to this story.
Published March 31, 2016