Celebrating our LGBTQ+ client’s asylum victory
It all started with this simple email request:
“Hello! I am looking for French interpretation support for an asylum case in immigration court in Hyattsville, MD. The hearing is coming up in early August and we need several sessions to prepare. I was hoping that I could schedule several sessions over Zoom to prepare with one of your interpreters. Thank you for your assistance!”
Elizabeth Carlson, a supervising senior attorney at Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) reached out to our French team seeking French – English interpretation for an asylum case in immigration court in the United States.
The client, who was from Africa, was seeking asylum based on his sexual orientation. Elizabeth and the client needed an interpreter to help them prepare for the court hearing, going through testimonies, making sure everything was correctly written and building a case to present before a judge. So we reached out to the French team, and one of our amazing interpreters, Christiane Demgenski, decided to take on this request.
In fact, the client was so impressed with Christiane’s work and professionalism that he made a special request to work only with her for the entire project, and she agreed, despite the different time zones and her personal duties. Christiane is based in Europe and CLINIC is based in the United States.
After three long sessions of preparation, about 6 hours in total, the client was finally ready for his court hearing. Fingers crossed!!! We were waiting for the big news. And one day after the hearing, Elizabeth emailed us with the wonderful news: the client was granted asylum. She added that Christiane had shared useful tips on how to organize the testimony and present it to the court, which made a huge difference in the outcome of the case.
We were so happy. As language activists, human rights activists, and interpreters/translators, we don't always receive news of positive outcomes for the clients we support. It's always exciting and satisfying to learn that people have been granted the legal relief they are looking for. It means that we are fighting for the right cause, that we are doing something that can and will change people’s lives.
We are always happy to help however we can, and if you want to know more about the wonderful interpreter and the organization that worked on this case, please read Christiane’s Spotlight Profile on our website, and check out Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)’s website.
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