The Advocates for Human Rights is supporting the national advocacy campaign by the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies to reverse the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision in the case of Alima Traore.

A bipartisan sign-on effort, sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), is underway in the Senate to request that the Attorney General, who has the authority to review Board decisions, certify the case to himself in order to reconsider this unjust denial of protection to Ms. Traore. The more Senators that sign on to the letter, the greater the pressure will be on the Attorney General to review the decision in Ms. Traore's case.

At this point, neither of Minnesota’s Senators has joined this letter.

What you can do to help: As success in past campaigns has shown, making a quick phone call or sending an email truly does have the power to bring about positive changes for women refugees in need of protection.  Please contact your Senator to urge that he/she sign onto the letter requesting the Attorney General's review of In re A-T- by email or by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Tell your Senator that:

• The BIA's decision in Matter of A-T- is a significant departure from the U.S.'s commitment to protect women's rights across the globe
• The BIA's reasoning in this case misconstrues the nature of FGC as simply a one-time act, rather than recognizing the severe ongoing medical and psychological harm that it causes, as well as its purpose to further subjugate women in society
• The BIA failed to recognize forced marriage as persecution, signaling a general hostility toward, and ignorance of, women's human rights
• The U.S. has a proud history of protecting the rights of women who are forced to flee grave human rights violations in their home countries.  We must not allow the U.S. to turn its back on the courageous women who simply wish to have their fundamental rights to autonomy and bodily integrity recognized

Urge him/her to sign onto the letter requesting that Attorney General Mukasey certify In re A-T- , by contacting Kevin Glandon in Senator Levin’s office at: (202) 224-9103 (Kevin_glandon@levin.senate.gov) or Dylan Williams in Senator Snowe’s office at: 202-224-5097 (Dylan_williams@snowe.senate.gov).

Background of Matter of A-T- is available at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies’ website - http://cgrs.uchastings.edu/campaigns/matterofat.php#advocacy