In 2000, N.M. and her family, permanent residents of the United States, were victims of a terrifying human trafficking scheme in India, in which N.M.’s children were held hostage at gunpoint for three days while N.M. and her husband were forced to bring three teenagers to the U.S. and to pass them off as their own children. Many years later, through a combination of poor counsel and miscommunication with U.S. immigration authorities, N.M. was forced to surrender her permanent residence, and was subject to a 20-year bar from returning to the United States.
Today, N.M.’s son is a physician and a U.S. citizen. N.M. requires a lung transplant that she cannot obtain in India. Jennifer Cook, Lindsey Medina, and Thomas Ragland successfully argued that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security should approve N.M.’s application for Humanitarian Parole, which permits otherwise “inadmissible” foreign nationals to enter the U.S. for compelling humanitarian reasons. Last week, shortly after obtaining this very difficult to receive approval, N.M. flew to the U.S. and is currently preparing for her lung transplant surgery and recovery under the care of her son and extended family.