Soofia
“I am really scared. I am scared for myself and for my family. I am scared I will never see my mother again. I am scared that my brothers, especially [redacted], will be impacted by this separation for the rest of their lives.” – Soofia
Our client Soofia is a 19-year-old young woman who fled Iran with her mother and two younger brothers, only to be separated from them by the U.S. government, held in immigration prison, and threatened with deportation.
Because RAICES advocated for her right to due process, Soofia passed her asylum screening after six months in detention.
What does this mean? It means that the U.S. government under this administration found her claim of persecution and torture to be credible. It means that she can pursue her asylum case and that threat of imminent deportation does not linger.
This young woman, who has said she would rather be imprisoned in the hell that is our American prison system than confront the horrors that await her in Iran, has her chance for due process because people like you rose in solidarity.
What’s next? Ostensibly, her release from detention and reunification with her family. But, despite having a legitimate asylum claim, she remains detained; she’s been separated from her family for months.
Soofia was her family’s primary caregiver, until the U.S. released her mother and brothers but kept her captive in immigration prison. Thousands of us united to fight for her freedom and reunite her with her family as she pursues her immigration case. We’re still fighting today.
Even though we flooded the ICE Field Office’s inbox with letters and made Soofia’s story national news with features in Teen Vogue and MSNBC, officers allegedly taunted her by saying that all the public support wouldn’t be enough to save her.
Historically, ICE Field Officers have had the discretionary authority to release people who are not considered a national security or flight risk. Advocates could make the winning argument to release people on humanitarian grounds. But we’ve noticed that this discretionary authority may no longer be in practice, as federal officials look to inflate detention and deportation numbers as part of a larger anti-immigrant agenda.
Despite widespread public support for her release, Soofia remains detained, now in California after months in Texas.
This is a fight for Soofia’s life. What awaits her in Iran isn’t just the oppression and violence she’ll face in a country where women are second-class citizens, but also the rampant abuse by people who were meant to protect her.
Soofia deserves an opportunity to fight for her asylum case outside the ICE prison industrial complex that shuttles her from state to state and deprives her of her family and the support systems she needs to win her case. The stakes have only gotten higher as turmoil envelops her home country and the administration’s travel ban completely restricts immigration from Iran — further limiting any future prospects of seeking refuge in the U.S. Rest assured, we have not given up on her, and we know you won’t either.
The truth is, because people like you have supported our legal services in family detention this year, Soofia could find her way to a sustained legal representation and a fair credible fear interview. She now has a real shot at being granted asylum in the U.S. People and families with legal representation are anywhere from two times to ten-and-a-half times more likely to receive immigration relief than those without, depending upon the circumstances of their respective cases. There is a direct correlation between access to legal representation and the ability to exercise fundamental due process rights.
We’re one step closer to her freedom—but this fight isn’t over. We have to fight for due process every step of the way.
It’s RAICES’ mission to fight every day to expand access to legal services to people and families who are detained in immigration prisons—especially as this administration does what it can to obstruct that access.
Every day that Soofia is in the U.S. is another day she can fight for freedom and reunification with her family—and we can all fight alongside her.
