INS Grants Asylum to Autistic Ten-Year-Old

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Asylum, Refugee, and Other
Protected Statuses

INS GRANTS ASYLUM TO AUTISTIC TEN-YEAR-OLD
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 15, No. 2, Mar. 29, 2001

In a case of first impression, the Chicago Asylum Unit of the Immigration and Naturalization Service has granted asylum to a ten-year-old autistic boy from Pakistan. The boy's mother alleged that the boy had been tortured in Pakistan and would face similar treatment if returned there.

To obtain asylum, individuals must prove that they have suffered persecution in the past or that they have a well-founded fear of persecution due to one or more of five grounds. These grounds include: race, national origin, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The INS granted the boy asylum on the basis of his membership in a particular social group. The boy's case appears to be the first favorable asylum decision issued on the basis of a person having a disability.

The boy wears a helmet and mittens in order to protect himself from hurting himself. His behavior is a manifestation of his autism. In the asylum application she filed on the boy's behalf, his mother claims that his autism is so misunderstood that the boy will be persecuted if he returns to Pakistan. The boy's relatives believe that the boy is possessed by evil spirits and cursed by Allah. In order to cure him, his relatives compelled him to drink dirty water and forced him to undergo dangerous and degrading treatments. According to his mother, if the boy is sent back to Pakistan, he will be locked up in a cage.

Asylum cases such as this one, which are granted by an INS asylum unit, are not published and are not precedent setting.