by TChris

Hector Viera (not his real name) was born in Venezuela, but his life there was tragic.

At age 9, Mr. Viera was raped by a family member. His relatives later shunned him when it became apparent he was homosexual. In 1994, he fled Caracas for Miami after police arrested him in a gay bar and turned him over to the Venezuelan army, where soldiers forced him to wear a pink dress and routinely abused him.

In the U.S., Viera discovered that he's HIV positive. Even though he was sick and homeless, he had no desire to return to an even more miserable existence in Venezuela. But Viera overstayed his tourist visa and didn't apply for asylum within a year as the law requires, so Homeland Security wanted to boot him out of the country.

Acting pro bono, two lawyers from Shearman & Sterling came to the rescue.

The foot-high stack of research papers they brought to U.S. Immigration Court in Manhattan certainly helped. They documented the story of a client who was certifiably "tired, poor and yearning to breathe free" — just as it is written in a verse by Emma Lazarus affixed to the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Their presentation convinced a judge to say the words Viera longed to hear: "Welcome to America." And the firm helped Viera find housing and counseling. Props to the Shearman lawyers and staff for the excellent work they did on behalf of their client.