Staggering.

By Rachel Tiven on 02/11/2011 @ 01:14 PM

The numbers are amazing.

One of every 200 people granted asylum in the U.S. last year was represented by Immigration Equality. That is staggering – and it shows that an organization with a small legal staff and a dedicated corps of law firms working pro bono can change the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people fleeing violent persecution.

We won 102 cases in 2010, for people from all over the world. We won refuge for LGBT and HIV-positive people from Ghana, Uzbekistan, and Peru, to name a few, and overwhelmingly from Jamaica.

American immigration law isn’t fair, as LGBT families know all too well. But the chance for freedom from fear is something this country can provide to some of our brothers and sisters. Immigration Equality is the national expert on LGBT asylum, and over the past five years we have represented more than 500 people fleeing persecution.

But that isn’t all.

This morning, our policy team was on Capitol Hill with one of our binational spokescouples, meeting with key lawmakers and shoring up support for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). We’re asking lawmakers, including freshmen members of the new Congress, to ensure our families are not forgotten.

Our Capitol Hill visit coincides with news reports that Senate leaders are discussing how to move immigration reform forward in the new Congress. As we told reporters earlier this week, Immigration Equality will be “working very hard and watching very closely” to ensure that legislation “is inclusive of the Uniting American Families Act.”

Now, we need you to work with us, too.

If you haven’t already done so, please log onto the Immigration Equality Action Fund and ask your Member of Congress to support UAFA. With so many new lawmakers in Washington, it is important that we build grassroots support to educate each one about the discrimination our families face.

2010 was a record-setting year. Together, we can make sure we begin 2011 with the resources we need to keep winning.

P.S. Please consider making a donation in support of our work. For every asylee we win safe haven for, another call comes to our offices, seeking help. For every couple we’re able to bring to Capitol Hill, there are so many others who will share their stories in the weeks and months ahead. We can only do that with your continued support.