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<h5><strong>Simon* is a Cameroonian man who found himself at the Tijuana border with no money and nowhere else to go.  </strong></h5>
He, like many other Cameroonian men of fighting age, had to flee his country, his home, and his family out of fear for his life. While he is not the first that Casa Cornelia has encountered with a heartbreaking past of fear, torture and persecution, all these unique stories have power in giving a voice to those who are not heard.

Simon had a wife and four growing children by the time the unrest in his country began to spill over into his life. Having bounced around a few jobs growing up, he was now working at a nonprofit that took care of women and children in rural communities. Waiting at a bus stop on his way to work one morning, he noticed a large crowd around him holding signs. “<em>Before I knew what was going on</em>,” he said, “<em>people had started running. I saw a policeman so I started to run, but I tripped and fell</em>.” Assumed to be part of the Anglophone separatist movement, Simon was arrested alongside everyone else and taken to the police station.
<h5><strong>There, Simon endured almost a month of detainment in harsh conditions.</strong></h5>
He says, <em>“The cell, which was meant for 15 people, now had about 40 people.</em> <em>We were beat with batons.</em> We were refused visitations from friends and family. It was if we had no legal rights.” They only released him when his father paid a bribe for his freedom. Traumatized and weak, he arrived home to his wife and children and burst into tears. But, to Simon’s dismay, this was not the end of his troubles.

Within a year, Simon was arrested and detained not once, but twice more. He again went through weeks of mistreatment, humiliation and torture at the hands of the police, who were convinced he was a separatist. But Simon says, “<em>The government doesn’t care – they just grab anyone who speaks English, like speaking English is a crime.”</em> Upon his release the third time, having again had to pay a bribe, the policemen told him if he ever was seen there again, he would be killed.

Simon returned home disheartened, with no idea where to turn next. He thought about the kind of suffering this fear had been causing his children. Left with no choice but to leave his family for their own well-being, Simon contacted someone who would gain him passage out of Cameroon. After trekking through Central America for months, he arrived at the Tijuana border in June of 2019. However, due to limitations to the amount of asylum seekers presenting themselves at the U.S. Southern border, Simon was given a number and forced to wait in Tijuana – a practice known as ‘metering’. It wasn’t until late July that they finally allowed him for processing at the border.
<h5><strong>Once he was processed and detained, Simon needed a lawyer for the difficult asylum case he had ahead of him.</strong></h5>
He contacted Casa Cornelia, where Volunteer Attorney Bob Gralewski from Kirby McInerney LLP took on his case. After months of hard work and determination, Simon’s asylum was granted!  He is finally safe from persecution, and free to heal and discover what the future holds for him and his family.

Casa Cornelia Law Center is immensely grateful to everyone who participated in Simon’s case, including the volunteer legal team who prevailed and the financial supporters who donate to fund Casa Cornelia and its <em>pro bono</em> programs.

To learn more about the work of our Asylum Program, click <a href="https://casacornelia.org/asylum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> or read more of our <a href="https://casacornelia.org/featured-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Featured Stories</a>.

<em>*Name and photo have been changed to protect client confidentiality. </em>