Global Crisis Response: Serving Refugees & the Displaced

In the months following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) received tens of thousands of humanitarian parole applications (hundreds filed on behalf of Gibson Dunn clients alone) for Afghan individuals— exponentially more than had been typical. After years of waiting, in the waning months of 2023, several of our teams received approvals—and one family has arrived safely in the United States!

This family included “Faridah,” a young woman who played on an Afghan national sports team for women, and her sister. These women’s lives were upended when the Taliban seized power, then put on hold while they went into hiding in Pakistan to evade the Taliban’s clutches—all because they dared to excel in athletics and stand up as prominent women in their community. The firm also worked with dozens of other individuals affiliated with this team, most of whom remain in hiding in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. For years, members of the team had been targets of the Taliban— both because the Taliban prohibits women and girls from participating in sports and because female athletes are viewed as advocates for women. After the Taliban took power, these threats increased, and one young member of the team was horrifically beheaded by the Taliban. Finally, after months of waiting and ongoing advocacy to USCIS and the State Department, Faridah and her sister were approved to travel to the United States. We were thrilled to greet Faridah and her sister at the airport when they arrived in New York City to embark on the next chapter of their lives—the first of what we hope will be many members of the team resettling in the United States in the coming weeks and months.

In the chaotic days immediately following the Taliban’s seizure of power, thousands of Afghan families raced to the airport in Kabul seeking assistance from U.S. military personnel overseeing evacuations to the United States. Tragically, many families were separated in the chaos at the Kabul airport, and some young Afghans ended up alone—with no way of contacting their families—and eventually were evacuated to the United States and sent to live with foster families. Over the past year, Gibson Dunn has worked with several Afghan teenagers who were evacuated and ultimately resettled in Denver—thousands of miles away from their parents and families in Afghanistan. Our teams helped them complete their applications for asylum, collected supporting evidence for their claims, and accompanied them to their asylum interviews. Many of these clients now have been granted asylum, and some have been reunited with parents and siblings who were able to come to the United States as refugees.

“Mahmud” was one of these children. In August 2021, Mahmud was separated from his family after an attack on his hometown; he fled to Kabul with the help of a neighbor, and the U.S. military evacuated him and others to Qatar. After several months, Mahmud finally arrived in the United States and applied for asylum. He was only 14 years old at the time. Mahmud faced persecution in Afghanistan on multiple grounds, including his membership in an ethnic minority group, his anti-Taliban and pro-Western beliefs, and his close family member’s status as a former Afghan police officer. Because this family member fought alongside the U.S. army against the Taliban, Taliban members had forcibly entered his family’s home and threatened to kill the entire family. Fortunately, Mahmud had already left the country when this happened. While his asylum application was pending, Mahmud dedicated himself to his studies, joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), and dreamed of joining the U.S. military.

Finally, after months of waiting—and on his sixteenth birthday—Mahmud learned that his asylum application
had been approved, and that he could remain in the United States with a pathway to citizenship and avenues
to reunite with his family!

Following the Taliban’s seizure of power in August 2021, individuals affiliated with the Central Bank of Afghanistan—which, working closely with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, previously had frozen accounts associated with the Taliban and ensured that members of the Taliban and other blacklisted individuals did not have access to U.S. dollars—came under threat due to this work.

One client, “Hakim,” worked alongside U.S. and European Union counterparts to identify terrorist groups and money launderers to ensure that U.S. and European bank notes would not make it into the hands of terrorists. Similarly, “Sami” worked with U.S. officials to prevent members of the Taliban from accessing U.S. dollars. And “Latif” helped ensure the accounts of blacklisted individuals, including members of the Taliban, remained frozen. As a result of this work, Taliban forces shot at Hakim and repeatedly threatened Sami and Latif. Fortunately, all three men were able to flee Afghanistan before being harmed. They knew they could not return to Afghanistan without risking serious harm—or even death—and quickly sought to rebuild their lives in the United States. With the help of Gibson Dunn, all three men obtained asylum, which will allow them and their families to remain in the United States and, eventually, become naturalized U.S. citizens.

In 2021, The New York Times successfully evacuated a large group of Afghans who had worked in their Kabul Bureau. The evacuees included journalists, maintenance staff, cooks, interpreters, and many others, along with their families. It has been our privilege to represent these individuals and their families over the last several years in their effort to obtain asylum. And we are overjoyed that many of them have already received asylum grants.

One of our clients—who worked for The New York Times’ Kabul Bureau for nearly 20 years—and his family were granted asylum in March 2023. Our client feared for his life following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, especially given his close affiliation with a Western media organization. He sought to flee Kabul with his wife and children (who, at that time, were between three and 14 years old), along with a large group of other Times’ employees and their families. The Times group’s escape from Kabul was incredibly dangerous and chaotic. It occurred over the course of around five days, during which they faced numerous attacks and threats from Taliban members. Ultimately, the group managed to escape, making their way to Qatar and then Mexico before settling in Houston. Now, the client and his family can live free from the fear of deportation back to Afghanistan and will be eligible to seek lawful permanent residence in one year. In time, they will be able to become U.S. citizens.

Afghanistan’s Female Tactical Platoon was an all-women security forces unit that fought alongside U.S. and Afghan special forces. In recent years, Gibson Dunn has been honored to help several members of the platoon and their families apply for asylum in the United States. Because these courageous women regularly joined high-stakes missions and helped gather information against the Taliban and ISIS, they would have been at the top of the Taliban’s kill list. Fortunately, a group of U.S. soldiers who served alongside them helped the members of the platoon evacuate to the United States. We are proud to have played a part in helping members of the platoon obtain asylum and embark on the next chapter of their lives here in the United States.

One of these clients was “Sara,” a member of the platoon who risked her life to work alongside the U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban, often participating in joint U.S. and Afghan covert missions to gather information on Taliban whereabouts and activities. She distinguished herself with her dedicated service and skills, earning praise and support from U.S. Army commanders who vouched for her character and her work. During the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sara fled to the United States alongside her mother and siblings.

A Gibson Dunn team submitted Sara’s application for asylum and withholding of removal in August 2022, providing a robust account of her military activities in the fight against the Taliban and the undisputed evidence of the threat on her life should she return to Afghanistan. Sadly, several of Sara’s fellow soldiers were captured, tortured, and killed by the Taliban on account of their work with Afghan and U.S. military operations; the team demonstrated that Sara’s fate would be no different if she were forced to return to Afghanistan. In April 2023, after nearly seven months of waiting, Sara’s asylum application was granted. She is relieved, overjoyed, and excited about her future life in the United States. She has settled in California with her family, found employment, and enrolled in intensive English classes. With her asylum application now granted, she hopes to one day enroll in nursing school.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting displacement of millions of Ukrainian civilians, attorneys from Gibson Dunn’s Frankfurt and Munich offices helped launch Immigration4Ukraine, a pro bono initiative to help Ukrainian refugees in Germany. The Immigration4Ukraine platform’s aim was to assist refugees from Ukraine who fled the war to Germany by helping them navigate the legal questions that commonly arose in the first weeks and months after their arrival in Germany. The platform offered both (1) basic legal information on many aspects of daily life in Germany in an accessible FAQ format (e.g., on residence in Germany, on work and taxes, on education and on social welfare) and (2) individual legal advice. Our Gibson Dunn team was closely involved on both work streams, and we were proud to contribute to an invaluable resource for Ukrainians displaced by the war.

In total, the German offices devoted approximately 550 hours to this matter, making this one of the largest pro bono matters on which the German offices ever worked. In recognition of the team’s outstanding commitment to pro bono work, the Uniting4Ukraine team won Gibson Dunn’s 2023 Frank Wheat Award.

Over the last two years, Gibson Dunn has worked with a large number of individuals displaced by the war or otherwise seeking refuge in the United States. Together with experienced nonprofit partners across the country, our teams have advised Ukrainian clients on a variety of immigration matters, including Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”), asylum, and other forms of humanitarian relief.

TPS allows certain Ukrainian nationals to remain in the United States, avoid removal, obtain employment, and obtain discretionary travel rights. Over the last several years, Gibson Dunn has worked with dozens of Ukrainians applying for TPS. These applications allowed our clients to extend their time in the United States and continue living and working here while the war at home rages on. Many of our TPS clients are families with young children who were forced to flee their homes when Russia invaded; obtaining TPS status and work authorization has enabled these families to support themselves while seeing out the war from safety in the United States. We look forward to continuing to work with these clients as they make their way through the U.S. immigration system toward permanent status in the United States.