From our country conditions expert - amazing.

Genevieve, Brooke, Raha and Everyone who made this great victory possible:

My wife and I were deeply moved by Raha’s beautiful letter, as well as by all of your comments. Since I was born and raised with radios, I’m not sure that this will go out to all of you, but I ask Raha to make sure that it does.

Over the past eighteen years, we have been involved in more than 360 political asylum cases (216 of them LGBT), over 50 of them with clinics at law schools. None of those cases was more meticulously prepared and brilliantly directed than this one.

What made all the difference this time, however, was the dedication and deep commitment (yes, love) which all of you demonstrated so many times. We are truly honored to have worked with such incredible people.

What Raha didn’t mention is that my original affidavit was a monstrous 200-pages long and that she and Genevieve and Brooke cut it down to 100 pages without losing anything of import. I stand in awe of what they accomplished.

Finally, there are still so few people who will even get involved in a gay–lesbian political asylum case, let alone a transgender one. But as Robert Frost wrote so eloquently:

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That wants it down.

Thank you all so very much for helping to tear down the wall around that young lady.



All Our Love and Admiration,



Tom and Adele Davies



Thomas M. Davies Jr
Professor Emeritus of Latin American History
Director Emeritus, Center for Latin American Studies
San Diego State University