Successful Pro Bono Defense Support for Immigrant in Danger of Deportation

Background

Forward Risk was engaged, on a pro bono basis, by a group of clients that included a law firm working with a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization. The clients represent an individual in danger of being deported from the US to Jamaica who feared for his life.

Our client requested that we identify any information that would support the law firm’s argument that Jamaica would be an unsafe environment for the individual in question, particularly ties between the Jamaican government and a drug trafficker who had previously presented an alleged threat to this individual.

Our Work

Our approach to this case necessitated not only traditional public records know-how, but an ability to absorb a tremendous amount of background information regarding the broader Jamaican political climate and contemporary global drug trafficking issues, all on a deadline of approximately one week.

We combined a thorough examination of relevant public records and news and social media with an extensive study of current events and governmental structure in Kingston, Jamaica.

The scope of our work, as a result, extended far beyond a standard litigation support engagement – we additionally leveraged political risk know-how in order to build out the narrative context behind the case, and engaged in highly detail-oriented stakeholder mapping that effectively linked the bird’s eye view of the Jamaican political landscape to the immediacy of the alleged threats against the individual facing deportation.

This included following multiple threads of potential money laundering activity linked to the drug trafficker, in order to trace assets, determine property ownership, and identify family members and business connections with relevant ties to the Jamaican government.

Results

Although no definitive links between the drug trafficker and the Jamaican government itself were discovered, we succeeded in establishing a sufficient level of baseline danger presented by the drug trafficker, which our client was able to use in his arguments.

Our client went so far as to claim:

I wouldn’t have had enough information to defend [my own client] without your research.

Ultimately, due to the extensive and multidisciplinary nature of the investigative research support we provided, our client was able to successfully prevent the individual from being deported back to Jamaica.