Yesterday, Mr. Hamilton tried his third asylum matter for the year, before Immigration Judge (IJ) Tabaddor of Los Angeles, California. The applicants were a Kenyan Kikuyu family of four, one of whom had faced severe past persecution in Kenya, but had failed to apply for asylum within one year of arrival into the US, as is required by Section 208(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Testimony was presented in the matter and Mr. Hamilton argued a complex two-pronged waiver approach to the one-year filing requirement.
The IJ accepted both of Mr. Hamilton's waiver arguments and the government's prosecutor after cross examination, accepted one. Agreement was thus reached between IJ, prosecutor and Mr. Hamilton that asylum had been established, and each member of the family was granted "Asylee" status on the spot.
Mr. Hamilton is the only attorney to have represented the family and commenced representation in January 2011. This case was litigated and tried in an unusually speedy manner for the Los Angeles Immigration Court, where cases normally pend for well in excess of two years before trial.
We are delighted at this outcome for the family and grateful to the IJ and prosecutor for their participation.
By Maria Rangel.
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