FKSA recently won an appeal on behalf of a pro bono client who is a refugee from Côte D'Ivoire, where he had suffered multiple beatings on account of his participation in a political rally protesting the Ivorian government and his Dioula ethnic background. The client's affirmative application for asylum and other relief was denied by the Immigration Judge, and after that ruling was affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the client petitioned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for review. In a summary order, the Second Circuit held that the BIA had ignored potentially significant facts that suggested that the client had a well-founded fear of future persecution in his home country, and remanded the case to the BIA.

Katherine L. Pringle, Reid Skibell, Jonathan Gottfried, and Christopher Wimmer represented the client on appeal. The client was referred to FKSA by Human Rights First's Asylum Legal Representation Program.