Political Asylum Secured After Years in Limbo

Claudine* is a citizen of Cameroon who fled the country due to political persecution. She came to the United States to seek asylum, along with her three children. Our legal staff at African Services Committee worked with our client and filed her asylum application with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

She received her asylum interview, but, inexplicably, USCIS never issued a decision in her asylum case, leaving her waiting in limbo for years regarding the status of her application. Our ASC attorney on the matter subsequently submitted multiple requests to USCIS regarding the status of our client’s case, only to receive vague replies that her case was under review.

Eight years after her initial interview, our client was required to appear for a second interview for her asylum case. Then, finally, our client’s application was approved, granting her and her derivative children asylee status. After following the proper legal steps and years of waiting, our client finally has lawful status in the United States and can live without the fear of being returned to her home country and facing persecution for her political opinion.

Decades of Comprehensive Support

In 2001, David* left his home country of Zimbabwe for New York City. Upon his arrival, he struggled with a bout of flu-like symptoms. David sought care from a doctor when his symptoms worsened, a doctor who later explained to David that he tested positive for HIV.

The diagnosis answered his questions about his flu-like symptoms, and it brought new worries and sleepless nights. David had buried friends and family in Zimbabwe who died from AIDS. The diagnosis also brought new questions ⁠— not only about treatment for HIV, but also about housing and food security. Homeless as a newcomer in New York City, David asked the doctor for help finding shelter, and she referred him to ASC.

At ASC, David accessed housing services for people living with HIV. He immediately secured temporary housing in a shelter, eventually moving into studio apartments in Brooklyn and the Bronx, where he has lived since those days in 2001.

”Here, we are family,” said David. “It’s our home.”

In addition to accessing housing services at ASC, David picked up groceries in the food pantry and joined support groups for people living with HIV. In the support groups, he learned how to stay adherent to his antiretroviral therapy and found a community of immigrants, refugees, and asylees from across the African Diaspora. Years after discovering his HIV status, when he was diagnosed with cancer, he depended on those same services. ASC’s peer navigators drove him to and from his chemotherapy appointments and coordinated his treatment plan with doctors.

Today, he is cancer free.

“If I see people, I tell them to go to African Services Committee,” said David. “They can help because I was helped.”

Wraparound Services Help Our Clients See Their Own Potential

When Mariam* first walked through the doors of African Services Committee, she was exhausted, overwhelmed and unsure of what her future held.

She was connected to our health services team for medical screenings, referred to legal assistance, and enrolled in our English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. For the first time since arriving in the U.S., she felt like she had a support system – a community that saw her not as a case number, but as a person with dreams, potential, and dignity.