Troutman Associate Wins Asylum for Guatemalan Boy Escaping Drug Gang
Associate M. Buck Dixon helped a young boy from a region in Guatemala that produces many aslyum seekers overcome an "uphill battle."
August 04, 2017 at 06:21 PM
5 minute read
M. Buck Dixon of Troutman Sanders has won asylum for a 14-year-old boy who fled his village in rural Guatemala to escape gang members who'd beaten him, set fire to his home and threatened to kill him after he refused to join and sell drugs.
It is the first asylum approval for the new Atlanta office of Kids in Need of Defense, which is housed at Troutman. Dixon, a second-year associate, took the case pro bono in February 2016, just after KIND opened. The group said Atlanta lawyers have opened more than 100 cases pro bono since then.
Dixon said the asylum case was a big change from his environmental law practice. “Going from reading administrative federal register notices to reading about gang violence in Guatemala—these cases are heart-wrenching,” he said.
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