Prosecutorial Discretion Granted for Guatemalan Man Seeking Asylum

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Attorney Marlene Ailloud and the team at Fayad Law, P.C. recently represented a client who sought asylum in the United States because of severe gang violence in his home country. Our client is from Guatemala but fled the country in 1998, after the home where he lived with his parents and four siblings was violently attacked by gang members.

Our client was just 19 when he was forced to leave Guatemala to protect his safety. Three of our client’s siblings also left Guatemala and sought safety in the United States. He has lived continuously in the U.S. since 1998, except for a brief 2-week hiatus to see his ailing father in 2006. During that short visit to his home country the man received gang threats and was once again afraid for his safety.

Our client, now a 35-year-old hardworking father, has lived his entire adult life in the U.S. He maintained a clean record until 2011 when he was convicted of DUI, which started his removal proceedings. Our team at Fayad Law, P.C. filed an application for asylum for him, based on the gang violence he faced back in Guatemala.

We were worried that the application for asylum would be denied, because there is typically a 1-year timeframe for these applications, and our client was filing 16 years after he entered the United States. We explained prosecutorial discretion to our client and he agreed to ask for it for his case.

Our team requested prosecutorial discretion just a few days before our client’s hearing, and on the day of his asylum hearing at the Arlington Immigration Court, our request was granted. Our client is now free to return to the home he shares with his partner and their 6-month-old baby, who is a U.S. citizen.

If you need assistance with applying for asylum or another immigration matter in Virginia or North Carolina, contact our experienced lawyers at Fayad Law, P.C.

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