Asylum granted to unaccompanied minors from Guatemala

Client(s) K.C. and K.S.

Jones Day successfully represented sisters K.C. and K.S., two unaccompanied minors from Guatemala, in obtaining asylum utilizing a novel "Cinderella" theory. Beginning at a young age, the girls were subjected to physical and emotional abuse at the hands of caretakers who treated them like servants and beat them for failing to follow orders.

In 2014, at ages 11 and 15, the sisters fled to the United States to escape their persecutors. Upon arriving in the United States, the girls were detained at the border and placed in removal proceedings. Jones Day represented both of them in removal proceedings before the Miami Immigration Court and assisted each of them in applying for asylum with the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS"). On January 26, 2017 and May 31, 2017, USCIS granted K.C. and K.S.'s applications for asylum, allowing them to lawfully remain in the United States without fear of being returned to their persecutors in Guatemala.