The stories we hear each day are portraits of pain and courage, of people so desperate that they leave behind family, friends, and homes to flee torture, abuse, and possible death. We represent hundreds of asylum-seekers from throughout the world and immigrants who are unjustly detained. Here are just a few people for whom we have won the chance to start again:

• “Irma” fled Guatemala after over fifteen years of severe physical and emotional abuse from her common-law husband, who had connections to paramilitary groups. Guatemala’s government has been internationally criticized for its inability to protect women from violence, and Irma had nowhere to turn. In the U.S., she was arrested during a raid on janitors at a local courthouse, and applied for asylum before the Immigration Court. Although domestic violence asylum cases are unusual and difficult to win, with the help of the PAIR Detention Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow, Irma won asylum in January 2009.

• “Abdel,” a Sudanese refugee, was imprisoned in immigration detention for nine months, as the government sought to deport him. Because Abdel is a member of an ethnic group in Sudan against which genocide is being committed, he feared torture if he were forced to return. With the excellent pro bono representation of a litigation partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart, and the expert mentoring of the PAIR Detention Attorney, Abdel faced two hearings in Immigration Court and ultimately won his case in 2008.

• “Jeaninne” was targeted in the DRC due to her political activity and her father’s leadership role in an opposition political party. She was beaten, raped, and imprisoned for months before managing to escape and seek asylum in the U.S. After eight years and successful appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the First Circuit, Jeannine finally won asylum before the Boston Immigration Judge, thanks to the perseverance of PAIR pro bono attorneys from Shapiro, Haber & Urmy and Foley Hoag.

• “Jose” fled Honduras because he was repeatedly harassed, beaten, and raped due to his sexual orientation and his courageous work as a gay rights activist. Despite the risk, he helped form an organization to document rights abuses within the gay community, such as police cruelty, mistreatment, and exploitation. As a result, Jose was arrested by a police officer who continued to extort, beat, and threaten him. With the help of the PAIR Asylum Attorney and his pro bono attorney from Burns & Levinson, he won asylum in the U.S. and continues to advocate for gay and lesbian rights.

• “Tatiana” advocated for better conditions in Chechnyan refugee camps and criticized the Russian government’s treatment of Chechnyan refugees. Russian forces responded by detaining, harassing, and threatening her and unlawfully arresting her son. Now that she has won asylum through the hard work of her PAIR pro bono attorneys from Ropes & Gray, Tatiana can now rebuild her life in the U.S.

• “Claude” was held in immigration detention and agreed to be deported even though he had never spoken with an immigration lawyer about his options. ICE prepared to deport him to Haiti, where Claude was born, by first transferring him to Louisiana. The Haitian government’s policy of detaining deportees from U.S. detention centers meant he would have been imprisoned in Haiti upon his return, and would likely have died due to the inhumane conditions in Haitian prisons. PAIR learned of Claude’s situation only days before he was to be deported, determined that he was not even deportable, and convinced ICE to transfer him back to Boston. The PAIR Detention Attorney represented Claude in front of the Immigration Judge, who terminated his removal case in 2007.

• “Marjan” feared persecution in Iran due to her conversion to Christianity and her rejection of Islamic norms. Because conversion is illegal in Iran, she likely faces harm, including torture, imprisonment and death, if she were to return. She has won asylum in the U.S. due to the dedication of her pro bono attorney from Foley & Lardner and the PAIR Asylum Attorney.

• “Marie” worked as a nurse at a hospital in Haiti until political violence forced it to close. She began treating patients out of her own home, without regard to their political affiliation.  When the party in power in Haiti learned what she was doing, they burned her home to the ground.  Fearing for their lives, Marie and her children fled into hiding and escaped to the United States. Despite the strength of her claim, it was an uphill battle in immigration court that lasted over three years, but with the help of her PAIR pro bono attorney from Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, the Immigration Judge finally granted her asylum in December 2007.

• “Ali” fled from Somalia as a young man when civil war led to threats against his life. He arrived almost penniless, and filed for asylum through PAIR. He won asylum in the U.S. due to the dedication of his pro bono attorney from Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo. After winning his asylum case, he went on to work at an accounting firm, and later to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is now a U.S. citizen and holds a prestigious position in international finance.

• “Lucia” came to the U.S. from Cape Verde with her parents when she was 13, and has now lived in the country for over 20 years. When she applied for legal status, she was ordered deported upon arriving ten minutes late to a hearing because her attorney misinformed her of the time. She subsequently lost two motions to reopen her case. Lucia was terrified at the prospect of leaving behind her two young U.S. citizen children, her U.S. citizen sister afflicted with breast cancer, and her permanent resident mother suffering from diabetes and hypertension. While held in immigration detention, the day before she was to be put on a plane and deported, Lucia reached out to the PAIR Detention Attorney, who negotiated the cancellation of Lucia’s removal order and got her case reopened. Lucia now has an excellent chance of obtaining her green card and remaining in the U.S. permanently with her family.

• “Jevera” is a high school student from the West Bank who was featured in an Emmy Award-winning documentary on how the Middle East conflict affects children in Palestine and Israel. Threatened by a pro-Palestinian liberation organization for promoting peace between Israeli and Palestinian youth, he fled the West Bank at the age of 16 and won asylum with the help of his PAIR attorney. He is now applying to college and guest lectures at universities on ways to bridge relations between Palestinians and Israelis.