On July 10, 2024, Williams & Connolly pro bono clients the Merzaye family won an important victory in their asylum cases. Feda, his wife Bibi, and their three sons, Nawid, Jawad, and Jawid, fled Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power. The family was forced to leave their homeland because Feda drove for NPR and other western media companies in Afghanistan for many years. After the fall of the old government, Taliban members discovered who Feda was and threatened him and his family with death for their opposition to the Taliban. The family fled their home in secrecy.

Thanks to the generosity and determination of NPR, the Merzayes made their way to the United States, where Williams & Connolly took their case. On July 10, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted asylum to three members of the Merzaye family—Feda, Bibi, and Jawid. While final determinations remain for Nawid and Jawad, we are hopeful that these favorable determinations will ease the road ahead for not only for the Merzaye family, but for the several other Afghan families that the firm represents.

The Williams & Connolly team that achieved this result includes associates Alex Gaudio and Brett Ries, former associate Summer Zofrea, document clerk Shabnam Hamrah, discovery attorney Catherine Depret and legal secretary Pat Lewis.