28 February 2022

Federal appeals court grants relief to refugee fleeing torture in Cameroon

Last month, the Tenth Circuit in Denver issued a key opinion granting my client's petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals order in Takwi v. Garland, 22 F.4th 1180 (10th Cir. 2022).

The Petitioner is a member of the Anglophone community in Cameroon, which faces violent repression and persecution by the Francophone government. He was arrested and tortured by the Cameroonian military on two occasions, after being targeted based on his family's association with the Southern Cameroon National Council, a group that advocates against marginalization by the government. He fled for his life in 2018 and sought asylum in the United States. Although he gave credible and consistent testimony through his proceedings, an Immigration Judge (IJ) rejected his application based on perceived inconsistencies between his testimony and a supporting affidavit written by his brother.