#BRINGELLABACK

Bond release showing crime of "sodome" with mandatory report dates

"Ella" is a 24 year old gay Ugandan woman. On August 25, 2017 she presented a valid student visa to Customs & Border Protection (CBP) officers at Washington-Dulles International Airport. She was denied entry. Due to her trauma, she lacked the ability to talk about what she had endured. So when a family member contacted me and told me about what had happened to her, I spoke for Ella. I demanded she be given the opportunity to seek asylum, a chance to tell her story.

CBP refused to let me talk to her, and deported her knowing she wanted to seek asylum.

En route back to Uganda, her deportation flight stopped in Dubai. So traumatized she was that she ran and hid in the airport. Through generous work with an international refugee aid organization, she lived in the airport for a month before we helped transport her to Kenya where she remains in limbo. 

This page contains all coverage of Ella's story (read in her own words), which is still unfolding. Follow #BringEllaBack.

CBP has to make this right.

-Hassan Ahmad, Mariko Hirose, Humza Kazmi, Sirine Shebaya
Attorneys for Ella

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ella's story

• Read Ella's Story In Her Own Words (Patriot Not Partisan)
• Ella's Story from her lawyer's perspective
• The Intercept, "She Fled Persecution For Being Gay. Hostile Questioning at U.S. Border Made Her Afraid To Tell The Truth" Nov 4, 2017
• The Daily Beast, "U.S. Sends Lesbian Refugee Back to Country Where She Was Raped" Nov 5, 2017
• Think Progress, "U.S. refuses to let Ugandan lesbian seek asylum, even though she could face death if returned" Nov. 14, 2017
• Daily Kos, "Advocates fight for return of deported woman who fled Uganda after she was raped for being gay" Nov 14, 2017​

social media

#BringEllaBack

First they attacked #JaneDoe. Then they detained #RosamariaHernandez. Then they deported Ella. Demand @CustomsBorder #BringEllaBack. This war on female immigrants of color is NOT OK.

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 13, 2017

Let's get a few things straight about Ella's story.

I'm her lawyer. My duty is to my client. She told me she wants the world to know how she suffered and how she was treated by our government.

So I started #BringEllaBack. 1/

— Hassan Ahmad (@HMAesq) November 15, 2017

Ella was beaten & stoned. She survived a rape ordered by her own father. All simply for being gay.

She came here for help & we sent her back.

Ella had a right to asylum & we denied it.

We were wrong & we can fix it. #BringEllaBackhttps://t.co/CRbgAjMLBo @woodruffbets @HMAesq

— Brett Pransky (@BrettPransky) November 13, 2017

.@timkaine We aren’t a country that denies asylum seekers the right to counsel. Please @CustomsBorder #BringEllaBackhttps://t.co/xRKw5AH93D

— Piper Perabo (@PiperPerabo) November 13, 2017

how you can help

1. Demand that the US government #BringEllaBack. Tweet to @CustomsBorder.
2. Call your Congressional representative at (202) 224-3121. Tell them about Ella's story and tell them you're enraged our country denied her access to counsel and deported an asylum seeker. Demand that she be brought back so she can apply for the asylum she needs.
3. Follow Ella's attorney Hassan Ahmad at @HMAesq on Twitter for updates on the case.
4. Support Senator Kamala Harris'  (D-CA) Access to Counsel Act, which, had it been the law, would have prevented Ella's deportation.
5. If you would like to send a message of support to Ella, please use the following form: