Thema* came to the United States in the early 1980s with her husband in pursuit of an advanced nursing degree. In 1985, the U.S. Government moved to deport her for violating her visa. Thema then spent over 20 years fighting the threat of deportation in order to protect her daughters from female genital mutilation (FGM).

In 2002, after years of fighting, the family was days away from deportation when they asked Human Rights USA for help. Since her arrival in the United States, Thema* had given birth to two U.S. citizen daughters: R- (thirteen at the time) and V- (then three). Thema feared that if she were deported to Nigeria, her daughters would be forced to undergo FGM.

Human Rights USA quickly assembled a pro bono team that filed a Motion to Reopen before the Board of Immigration Appeals, despite the fact that three prior motions of this type had been rejected. In our motion, we argued that the birth of Thema's daughters who faced FGM in Nigeria constituted changed circumstances on account of which Thema sought relief under the Convention Against Torture. The motion cited the recent Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in the case of Adesina (in which Human Rights USA served as lead counsel), and Congress's implementation of the Convention Against Torture under U.S. law, as further evidence of changed circumstances.

On appeal, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a groundbreaking decision that the threat of FGM provided a basis for protection under the Convention Against Torture, even for mothers whose deportation threatens their daughters with this practice:

"The [U.S.] government could never do to these girls in this country what the INS seems all too willing to allow to happen to them in Nigeria." 314 F.3d 303, 310 (7th Cir. 2002). Since then, other courts have recognized FGM as torture.

In granting Thema a temporary stay, the

"7th Circuit Court of Appeals did something no appeals court has done before. It called female genital mutilation a form of torture, prohibited by the Convention Against Torture. Lewis Libby, NPR correspondent, 2002." Thema lives with her family in Dallas, Texas, where she provides elder-care services. Her daughter R- is pursuing a career as a physicians’ assistant.

This landmark decision changed the way that FGM is addressed in immigration cases in the United States. It was a significant advance in the effort to protect the hundreds of women who flee FGM every year. Human Rights USA remains on the forefront of asylum cases dealing with gender-specific forms of persecution.

*Thema is a pseudonym. Her name is legal documents in P-N-.

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