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As a child, an older cousin raped A. As a young woman, A.’s partner physically and verbally abused her over the course of several years. Once separated from her abusive partner, an armed MS-13 gang member demanded she become his girlfriend since she no longer had a husband. The MS-13 gang member threatened he would take her young daughter if A. refused. A. fled Honduras with her daughter in 2019. NIJC filed their asylum applications with the immigration court. A.'s daughter is independently eligible for asylum but is a derivative on A.'s case. All documentation to their cases will be due 15 days prior to their individual merits hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

As a teenager, when M.’s parents discovered he had boyfriend, they beat him severely and strictly monitored him, cutting him off from friends. A year later, he escaped his house to attend a party with other LGBTQ individuals, but the party was raided by police. He was arrested and beaten and only released after his family paid a bribe. Several years later, classmates raped M., threatened to kill him and told him to stop being gay. Soon after he was diagnosed with HIV- which we was told is punishment for being gay. M. entered the United States on an F1 student visa and is currently enrolled in a business program. His asylum application should be filed with the Asylum Office prior to his one-year filing deadline on July 27, 2022. His affidavit and other supporting documentation will need to be filed at least a week prior to his asylum interview, which could be scheduled four to six weeks after the submission of his asylum application.

M. and N. were abandoned by their mother four years ago. When M. and N. were toddlers, their father came to the United States. M. and N. were left in the care of their paternal grandparents. While in the United States, M. and N.'s father would communicate with them often and send them money. Gangs in Honduras threatened both M. and N. and so they came to the United States seeking protection and to be reunited with their father in Illinois. A pro bono attorney will need to file a petition for sole allocation of parental responsibilities on behalf of M. and N's father, and obtain an order finding that M. and N.'s reunification with their mother is not viable due to her abandonment, and that it is not in M. and N.'s best interest to return to Honduras.