Cleary Gottlieb represented two women, who on October 31, 2019, successfully secured humanitarian parole.
The women were among the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped and held hostage by the jihadist terrorist organization Boko Haram. The humanitarian parole, a form of immigration relief that is sparingly granted, allowed the women to enter the United States on November 13, 2019, to receive sophisticated medical treatment that is unavailable to them in Nigeria.
Both women suffered debilitating injuries during their abduction and captivity. One woman’s leg was crushed and the other woman suffered chest and abdominal injuries when a bomb exploded in her vicinity, lodging shrapnel in her liver. The women applied for visitor visas so they could travel to the United States to receive medical treatment, but the U.S. government denied their requests in September 2019. Less than three weeks later, Cleary filed comprehensive humanitarian parole applications detailing the women’s injuries and urgent need for medical care. After the humanitarian parole applications were granted, the women successfully entered the United States and are now receiving the life-altering medical treatment they desperately need.
The women were referred to Cleary by the New York Immigration Coalition.
To see 60 Minutes’ recent profile of the case, click here.