Patterson Belknap attorneys provide vital support to those seeking safety within the United States, having authored important amicus briefs in complex immigration proceedings. In partnership with the International Refugee Assistance Program (IRAP), firm attorneys represent the most vulnerable refugees and persecuted individuals in cases relating to Special Immigrant Visas to the United States, first instance refugee applications before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), appeals of UNHCR adjudications, requests for review of USCIS adjudications, and humanitarian parole applications.
Under the Convention Against Torture, Patterson Belknap attorneys obtained relief for our client and her child who had fled violence in their home country, seeking asylum the U.S. The Patterson team helped our client prepare her affidavit, worked with an expert to prepare a country conditions report, submitted a brief in support of her application, and helped prepare our client and our expert for the merits hearing. The Immigration Judge granted relief under the Convention Against Torture, finding that it was more likely than not that our client and her child would be subject to torture should they be returned. As a result, our client and her child are able to remain in the United States, where they are thriving.
In March 2025, Patterson Belknap, in partnership with Immigration Equality, secured asylum for an individual who was forced to flee his home in Honduras after receiving death threats because of his ethnicity and his identity as a non-binary gay man. Patterson began representing our client in 2017. Firm attorneys assembled a compelling application and conducted in-depth preparation with the client for his interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) in 2020. Even though USCIS aims to render decisions within 90 days of an interview, our client waited more than four years in limbo. During this period, Patterson supported the client by securing his work authorization and offering regular strategy discussions and options to advance his asylum application. Finally, in March 2025, our client was notified that his asylum application had been approved.
In partnership with the Brennan Center for Justice and on behalf of the Brennan Center, the Cato Institute, and law professors, the firm filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit challenging the use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove allege members of Tren de Aragua from the United States. The brief argued that the Act is a wartime authority only, with no lawful applicability to peacetime or to acts of unlawful migration, narcotics trafficking, or gang violence. It further argued that the political question doctrine does not prevent courts from reviewing presidential proclamations, even when foreign affairs and matters of war are involved.