Matter of A-M-

This case concerns a teenage girl from Albania who was forced into sex trafficking. She was initially denied asylum by an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

CGRS Involvement

CGRS submitted an amicus brief to the Board and worked with CGRS Advisory Board member Jayne Fleming of Reed Smith.

Basic Facts

Ms. A.M. and her family were members of the Democratic Party in Albania, a party in conflict with the ruling Socialist Party. Ms. A.M.’s family had received threatening phone calls related to their political activity. At age 16, Ms. A.M. was stalked, kidnapped, violently beaten and raped over a one-month period, nearly sold into prostitution, and forced to have an abortion because of a pregnancy that resulted from rape.

Human trafficking is a significant problem in Albania, and Democratic Party members have been specifically targeted for it. Ms. A.M. managed to escape her kidnapper, and soon after she came to the United States on a student exchange program. She feared returning the Albania, but she did not file for asylum until she had been in the U.S. for 13 months because, among other things, she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Procedural History

The Immigration Judge denied Ms. A.M.’s application for asylum and withholding of removal in 2004. He found that because she had not applied within one year, she was ineligible for asylum. He also did not think her situation constituted extraordinary enough circumstances to serve as an exception to this rule. He said she had not suffered persecution on protected grounds, and that her kidnappers had personal motivations for their actions.

Ms. A.M. appealed and CGRS filed an amicus brief in support of her application to the BIA. The CGRS brief addressed human trafficking as a basis for asylum, and argued in part that Ms. A.M. was persecuted because of her membership in a particular social group and her imputed political opinion. The brief also addressed the application of the one-year filing deadline to cases of unaccompanied minors and individuals with mental health conditions such as PTSD and depression.

The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision. Ms. A.M. appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After mediation, the government agreed to a joint motion to remand to the BIA. Ms. A-M- was ultimately granted protection.

Documents

CGRS amicus brief to the BIA

CGRS Call to Action

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