On October 3, 2022, a Wilson Sonsini pro bono team led by Of Counsel Ariel Anaba secured deferral of removal for Jon (not his real name), a Nigerian immigrant who had served a substantial federal sentence and was set to be deported from the United States. Jon is bisexual, and in light of Nigeria’s hostility toward LGBTQ+ individuals, a decision sending him back to his native country would have been catastrophic.

Ariel, along with partner Mark Yohalem, initially took on the representation of Jon in 2017, before joining Wilson Sonsini. Over the next five years, she succeeded first in the Ninth Circuit, then in the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and then before the Immigration Judge (IJ). After convincing the Ninth Circuit and BIA to reopen the case, the core challenge was to convince the IJ that Jon was bisexual, notwithstanding his having spent his life in the closet (such that he essentially had no corroborative evidence) and his having been convicted of fraud. Ariel’s written work and oral advocacy presented the story of Jon’s life in a way that rang with truth, and in the case’s final stage, Callie Davidson became involved to conduct Jon’s direct examination, which went extremely well.  

As a result of the October 3 victory, Jon will not be sent back to be tortured and killed in Nigeria.

In addition to Ariel, Mark, and Callie, the Wilson Sonsini pro bono team that assisted Jon in the matter included John Roberts, Katie Obermiller, Kristijonas Rastauskas, Diana Lopez, and Tatiana Thomas.