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October 19, 2007

Gay Man From Colombia Wins Asylum in U.S.

After losing his sister and his father, both killed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and receiving death threats and harassment for being gay, Colombian immigrant, J, won asylum in the United States. According to the Bay Area Reporter, the man's identity must remain confidential due to provisions related to asylum cases.

The man fled to Miami on a three-month visa six months after his father's murder. He later moved to San Francisco, where he was ordered by an immigration judge to get a lawyer. He eventually found one who pushed for asylum. While undergoing medical tests required for asylum, J was diagnosed with HIV. The judge granted asylum to J based on his HIV status.

Many people in similar situations aren't granted asylum, Dusty Araujo, asylum documentation coordinator for the National Asylum Partnership on Sexual Orientation, a program of the National Immigration Justice Center, told the Bay Area Reporter.

People contact the program for documentation of harassment and violence in different countries in order to support asylum cases. Araujo said that since 2000, out of the 67 national contacts related to cases involving sexual orientation, HIV status, and missing the one-year deadline, 15 have been granted asylum. (The Advocate) 

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