Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented Mr. A, a citizen of Syria, in his application for asylum in the United States.
Mr. A and members of his family were repeatedly threatened by agents of the Syrian government following statements and social media posts that Mr. A made condemning actions taken by the government of Bashar al-Assad. After experiencing such threats, Mr. A fled Syria to the United States where he sought asylum on the grounds that returning to Syria would subject him to persecution by the Syrian government on the basis of his political beliefs and/or religious beliefs or, alternatively, persecution by extremist groups (such as ISIS).
Beginning in 2015, in conjunction with Human Rights First, Mr. A began working with Cleary to prepare, submit, and defend his asylum application. After a pendency period of nearly five years, Mr. A received approval of his application from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in August 2020.