Jones Day wins asylum for Pakistani Christian family

Client(s) Clients AE

A Jones Day Chicago asylum team recently obtained a hard fought asylum grant for our client and his family (collectively referred to as Clients AE). He, his wife, and his first born daughter were born and raised in Pakistan and have been practicing Christians throughout their lives. Because of his religious beliefs, the father received multiple threats by telephone and letters from, and ultimately was held at gunpoint and threatened with his life by, certain members of a "madrasa Islamiyah" or Islamic religious school. Because the Pakistani government and police refused to protect Clients AE, they were forced to abandon the father's auto parts supply business and flee to the United States. Just days before Jones Day was to file his asylum application (not long after he arrived in the U.S. legally on a tourist visa), our client was arrested here in Chicago and placed in deportation proceedings for overstaying his visa. The team secured his release and then began preparation for his asylum merits hearing. At the merits hearing, the father testified credibly about the persecution he faced and the Pakistani government's unwillingness to prosecute his attackers. Jones Day directed expert witness Dr. Anita Weiss, who happened to be conducting research in Pakistan at the time. She testified by telephone about the persecution faced by Pakistani Christians and the Pakistani government's unwillingness/inability to protect Clients AE. After three days of hearing over more than 13 months, the team was successful earlier this year in obtaining asylum for Clients AE.