Convention Against Torture (CAT) Case Success
“Aggravated Felon” was Detained at Krome Detention Center
An undocumented alien had been categorized as an “aggravated felon” on account of his criminal record. As a result of a criminal conviction, an “immigration hold” was placed on him while he was in jail, and at the conclusion of his criminal sentence, he was taken to Miami’s Krome Detention Center by the immigration authorities.
The Krome Service Processing Center, located at 18201 SW 12th Street, Miami, FL 33194, is an immigration detention facility. The facility also houses an Immigration Court, which conducts bond hearings, removal proceedings, and certain other types of immigration proceedings. There are presently 3 Immigration Judges presiding over deportation cases at the Krome Detention Center.
The Torture Convention Case in Front of the Krome Immigration Court
My client had been tortured in his home country in retaliation for his political expression against the government, and still bore scars inflicted by his tormentors. I enlisted the aid of the Public Health Service at the facility to help me document the scars on my client’s body, and presented the findings to the Immigration Court at Krome. The Immigration Judge – who at the time had one of the lowest asylum grant rates in the country – declined to grant relief, and I appealed the case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
The BIA’s Decision on the CAT Case (Win)
Based on the testimony of my client, the medical report, and other documentation corroborating his fear of returning to his country, the Board of Immigration Appeals found that my client had demonstrated an over 50 percent likelihood that he would be tortured by his government if he was deported to his country, and therefore granted him relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT” Relief). Client was released from Krome, and allowed to live and work in the United States.
Attorney Mitchell J. Cohen
Contact me at my Hallandale law office at (954) 457 – 1941.