Law students help Tanzanian sisters find asylum in US

After facing discrimination in their home country, two Tanzanian sisters were granted asylum in the U.S. with the help of two USC Gould School of Law students.

Sisters Bibiana and Tindi Mashamba were born with albinism, a rare genetic condition characterized by absence of pigment in the skin. In Tanzania, some people associate the condition with witchcraft and believe that the body parts of albinos carry magical powers and have monetary value, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When she was just 9 years old, Bibiana’s leg and two of her fingers were cut off and sold. The sisters initially came to the United States on medical visas and reached out to the USC Gould School of Law when their visas were close to expiring. After receiving asylum, Bibiana and Tindi will attend school in Ojai, California, this fall. Both girls hope to use their education to help other albinos in Tanzania.

Gould law students Amy Stern and Elena Babakhanyan took on the case, under the supervision of Jean Reisz, co-director of Gould’s Immigration Clinic. The clinic allows students to serve as lead attorneys on cases, under the guidance of a supervising attorney, such as Reisz. The clinic has represented clients from all over the world.

“This is the first case where we’ve represented someone who was persecuted on account of albinism. We have represented clients who have had similar trauma, whether it was torture, rape or similar beatings, and have represented clients who are persecuted due to their membership in a particular social group,” Reisz said.

Amy Stern first took on the case as a third-year law student working for USC Gould School of Law’s Immigration Clinic.

“Initially, I was so surprised that I had never before heard that there was this unimaginable persecution of people with albinism going on in countries all over Africa,” Stern said. “And because this persecution is very well-documented, there was a lot of support for their case.”

Stern did much of the preliminary work, including preparing the asylum papers, interviewing the girls, gathering evidence and writing statements. Stern submitted their asylum application in May 2016, just a week before she graduated from law school.

“When I met the girls, I was just so inspired by them because upon meeting them you would never know that they suffered these horrible abuses their entire life since they are just so positive,” Stern said.

Elena Babakhanyan, who took over the case after Stern graduated, was also inspired by the Mashamba sisters.

“It obviously was a horrific thing that happened to these girls, but when you meet them, they have this very positive spirit, and it is so inspirational because they were so strong and courageous,” Babakhanyan said. “[The sisters] were ready to move forward and get educated and go back and help other albinos.”

Babakhanyan, now a second-year law student, worked on the case over the summer and prepared the sisters for their asylum interview.

For Jean Reisz, the case is a win-win, as the Mashamba received asylum and her USC Gould law students were able to work on an important case.

“Winning cases like this makes me happy that my students can see the good they can do with the law degree. You can change the course of a person’s life,” Reisz said.  “We get to help these girls, and my students learned a valuable lesson and, hopefully, will continue to use their law degree for good in the world.”

Stern spent a total of about 80 pro bono hours on the case and considers representing Babiana and Tindi the highlight of her budding legal career.

“Being able to do work with the girls and see their case through to their being granted asylum is the most rewarding and memorable work I will ever do throughout my legal career, and my legal career hasn’t even started yet,” she said.