Help Aziza, a courageous refugee

Dear Friends:

As many of you know, for the past eight months, we have been representing without charge a young woman named Aziza who escaped from Chad, in her effort to gain asylum in the United States.  We are pleased to report that, thanks to the efforts of our team of lawyers and experts, Aziza has been granted asylum!  We are turning to you now to seek your assistance in helping Aziza with her living expenses until she can secure a new job.

Aziza is a smart, courageous and resilient young woman of 25. When she was 12, she was forced to leave school by her uncles and three years later, at age 15, was sold by them into marriage to a man 3 times her age. Her husband raped and beat her regularly and repeatedly over a 6 year period until, after several failed attempts, she managed to escape to the US with the help of a cousin. She had to leave her 2 young boys behind in order to do so.  If she had been forced to return to Chad, her life would have been at risk.   

Aziza has authorization to work in the United States, but she lost her previous job because she had no medical care.   New Jersey, where she lives, does not let asylum applicants qualify for Medicaid.  When Aziza had to stay home from work with the flu, she could not provide her employer with a doctor’s note and so was terminated. 

Now Aziza is about to be evicted and she is having to contemplate living in a shelter.  We are trying to raise funds to pay her rent and expenses for a temporary period until she can find work, as we fear that living in a shelter will sap her mental and physical strength.   The money you contribute will go first to keep a roof over her head and help her with food and medical expenses until she can be self-supporting again.  Any remaining money will be used for expenses in connection with obtaining authorization to bring her two young sons to this country, and to  compensate a friend of Aziza’s, a political refugee from Chad, who worked many months with us as an interpreter and traveled from Dallas to New Jersey to translate for Aziza’s asylum interview.  None of the money raised will be used for attorneys’ fees.

We would be so grateful if you would assist our young client, no matter how small the amount and even though you will not receive a tax deduction for your kindness.   If you want to ask us any questions about Aziza, confidentially send us a private message through this site or Facebook and we will be happy to tell you about her.  

Barbara S. Mehlsack, Karyn J. Monat, Denise Kennedy, Christopher Confrey and Courtney A. Chua