MLP | Boston Client Shares Her Story

Illiassou Balde found herself depressed and unable to sleep. Illiassou had fled Guinea to escape violent persecution, and had made her way to Boston Medical Center (BMC) only to learn that her young son required major surgery for an orthopedic deformity. This added to her list of already daunting concerns: an expiring visa, few English-language skills, no job to support the two children with her in the U.S., and Illiassou’s grief in being separated from her third child – her oldest daughter who had been left behind in her home country of Guinea.

Then a ray of hope emerged. During a visit to her son’s BMC pediatrician, the doctor – having been trained by MLP | Boston to screen for social factors affecting her patients’ health – gently asked whether Illiassou had immigration concerns. When Illiassou said yes, the doctor paged her colleagues at MLP | Boston for guidance.

Illiassou met with then-Staff Attorney Samantha Morton, an immigration specialist. Samantha immediately determined that Illiassou’s asylum case would be an especially challenging one, because she had missed the one-year deadline for filing her application. Over the next several years, Samantha worked closely with experts at the Political Asylum and Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project and Kaplan, O’Sullivan & Friedman to ensure that Illiassou’s asylum claim was successful. “Illiassou needed an experienced asylum lawyer,” explains Samantha, “and we were fortunate to find such a capable one in Jeannie Kain.”

After a series of court hearings, Illiassou’s asylum application was granted. She and her family and their medical providers were ecstatic.

These days, Illiassou reports that her mental health has improved incredibly. She no longer has trouble sleeping, maintains a steady job and has a new, healthy young child. Most happily, the asylum grant allowed her to reunite with her oldest daughter, who recently arrived in the U.S. from Guinea. As she describes how MLP | Boston’s help enabled her to bring her family back together, tears well in her eyes. “Every minute I look at my daughter,” Illiassou says, “I am grateful for Samantha. She never gave up on me.”