AMES Alumni Alex Schnapp: A Small Victory in a Larger Fight
Alex Schnapp, a first-year associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, secured release on bond of an asylum seeker who fled Nicaragua due to threats and persecution he faced from government officials loyal to Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista regime. This man fled Nicaragua with his wife in mid-December of 2019 and was separated from his wife when they encountered immigration officers at the US–Mexico border. Alex appeared via telephone in Immigration Court and argued that this individual had a legitimate asylum claim, was not a flight risk, and posed no danger to the community. The immigration judge took the dangers of COVID-19 into consideration and decided that he was eligible for release on a $10,000 bond. RAICES’ bond program agreed to pay the bond, and he was released from detention on July 10th after having spent over 4 months detained. You can read more about Alex’s advocacy in a blog post he wrote here. Alex is a 2015 Duke alumnus (AMES/Arabic major), and a champion of refugee and immigrant rights.