June 2022 Client of the Month- YMM

June 2022 Client of the Month- YMM Our client of the month for June 2022 is YMM, who has been a client of Benach Collopy since 2013 and sought and was granted citizenship this winter.  In addition to being one of the loveliest people one could ever hope to meet, YMM is a Spanish national who worked with BC Partner Dree Collopy to seek lawful permanent resident status along with her husband.  She and her husband were granted green cards in 2015 based on an approved extraordinary ability (EB-1) petition. 

Client of the Month- May 2022- Lady!

Client of the Month- May 2022- Lady! Lady and her two boys! For our client of the month for May we have a perfect Client for Mother’s Day! Here we celebrate a woman who did what mothers do best- protect her children and create a better life for them. We are happy to share that Lady and her sons, Diego and Juan, were granted asylum! Ava Benach represented them before the immigration court in New York.

Client of the Month- March 2022- Azeb!

Client of the Month- March 2022- Azeb! Azeb and Dree Collopy We are happy to once again begin our client of the month series with a Dree Collopy victory! This month, we celebrate our client Azeb, who was granted asylum from Ethiopia after a long battle to obtain the safety in this country that she deserves. Azeb fled to the US after she had been wrongfully imprisoned in Ethiopia for standing up to government harm to journalists and political opponents.

Una carta abierta a mi comunidad Latinx. De Diana Mateo

Una carta abierta a mi comunidad Latinx.  De Diana Mateo ¡Hola, amigos! Soy una de las paralegales de BC, Diana. Como una Latina profesional de inmigración, quería compartir algunas ideas con nuestros amigos y clientes de BC sobre algunos problemas preocupantes que he visto en nuestra comunidad latina, y sobre formas en que podemos ser mejores aliados para nuestros hermanos Negros. Las muertes de George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery y Breonna Taylor son actos de asesinato horribles, y es parte de nuestra responsabilidad como inmigrantes de defender a nuestros hermanos Negros contra el genocidio de ellos en los Estados Unidos de la misma manera que nos enfrentamos al genocidio en la frontera.

An Open Letter to my Non-Black Latinx Community

An Open Letter to my Non-Black Latinx Community This is a special blog post by our Paralegal Diana Mateo, who has been inspired to write by the Black Lives Matter movement  to speak out about anti-blackness in the Latino community.  A version in Spanish is available here. Hi friends, this is Benach Collopy paralegal Diana. As a Latina immigration professional, I want to share some thoughts with our BC friends and clients on some troubling issues I’ve seen in our non-Black Latinx community and on ways we can be better allies to our Black siblings.

April 2018 Clients of Month Aldemar Segundo and Susan Matos

April 2018 Clients of Month Aldemar Segundo and Susan Matos We are thrilled with our April 2018 Clients of the Month, Aldemar Segundo and Susan Matos Segundo.  Aldemar became a permanent resident in March 2018 and can live securely with his U.S. citizen wife, Susan, and their two children.  Aldemar’s improbable journey is one of the most inspiring cases we have been a part of. When DACA was announced, Aldemar was like lots of other Central American immigrants without status in the U.S. 

Celebrating asylum in a country where it’s hard to come by

Celebrating asylum in a country where it’s hard to come by It can be so hard to stay positive as an immigration attorney in times like these. Every day, we face new assaults from the president, the attorney general, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice. This week, we learned that the attorney general is attempting to circumvent due process by telling immigration judges to reject asylum petitions without a full hearing if, upon initial review, they appear to be fraudulent or unlikely to succeed.

Client of the Month December 2017- Angie Salguero

Client of the Month December 2017- Angie Salguero This month, we are pleased to honor Angie Salguero as our Client of the Month. Angie, a transgender woman from El Salvador, won her case for asylum last month in front of the immigration judge in Baltimore, MD. Angie’s story of violence and persecution from a very young age included physical abuse by the police and gangs, the loss of family, a dangerous trip to the United States, and stay in immigration detention. 

DACA: Some Venting and Some Solutions

DACA: Some Venting and Some Solutions Of all the stupid, dirty, slimy, no-good, treasonous, villainous, putrid, double-crossing treachery, low life, vengeful, mean-spirited, spiteful, nasty, pin-headed, pathetic, weak, ugly, traitorous, short-sighted, weak-kneed, unbecoming, dumb, awful, smelly, vile, cruel, vicious, unjustifiable, illogical, unfriendly, basic, ungrateful, pig-nosed, trashy, small-minded, ham-handed, mercenary, ruinous, bad, fallacious, godawful, crummy, abominable, bad trip, lame, poor, slipshod, cruddy, wicked, corrupt, mean, discouraging, unpleasant, sulfurous, harsh, rotten, scandalous and just plain uncool things that Donald Trump has done, his elimination of DACA, after promising to treat the Dreamers with “great heart,” has to be the worst, the lowest, the meanest, the weakest and the dumbest thing his administration has done. 

August 2017 Client of the Month- Milan Stankovic

August 2017 Client of the Month- Milan Stankovic This month we are thrilled to recognize Milan Stankovic as our client of the month.  After filing his I-589 asylum application and three evidentiary filings, several hours of grueling interviews, numerous status inquiries, and six long years of seeking protection in the United States, Milan has finally been granted asylum.  Milan, previously a professional soccer player and small business owner in his home country of Serbia, fled his home in 2011 following years of brutal violence against him.