News and Insights

Securing Asylum for Afghanistan Students from Asian University for Women

Jenner & Block lawyers from across the firm represented a cohort of Afghanistan students from the Asian University for Women that caught one of the last flights out of Kabul as the city fell to the Taliban in 2021. These women were forced to flee their homes in Afghanistan fearing for their lives because of their gender, ethnicity, or political opinion opposing the Taliban regime, among other things. Most of them experienced acts of violence and persecution during several harrowing attempts at e...READ MORE

Florida Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in 15-Week Abortion Ban Challenge

On Friday, September 8, the Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, et al. v. State of Florida, et al., a case challenging Florida’s House Bill 5 (HB 5) which bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The 15-week ban, which has been in effect since last July, has harmed patients across the state. While the case challenges a 15-week ban, the impacts of the state supreme court’s decision could go far beyond that. If the court upholds ...READ MORE

Afghanistan Refugee Granted Asylum After Years Long Process

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, Jenner & Block has had more than a dozen active asylum cases for refugees to bring them to safety. On March 24, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted asylum to client Fawzia. This was one of four asylum cases that the firm handled, in partnership with Tahirih Justice Center, on behalf of young Afghan women forced to flee the country as the Taliban took control and this is the first grant of asylum....READ MORE

“Transnational Repression Increasingly Reaches into the United States” Just Security

In a recent article for Just Security, Jenner & Block Partner Jason Hipp along with Associates Emily Merrifield and Susanna Evarts explain how authoritarian regimes use transnational repression tactics to threaten dissidents who come to the United States for a new life....READ MORE

Client Alert: Sanctions Response Restricting Russia’s Revenue and War Effort

As we enter the seventh month of Russia’s unjustified war in Ukraine with the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and a sham referendum annexing Ukrainian territory, there continues to be an unprecedented global response – via sanctions, export controls, and other tools of foreign policy. In our prior February 25, 2022, March 11, 2022, and June 1, 2022 alerts, we discussed the significant, coordinated sanctions the US, EU, UK, and numerous other jurisdictions have imposed on Russia’s leadershi...READ MORE

Client Alert: 4 Key Questions Answered in OFAC’s Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry

On October 15, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued guidance to help the virtual currency industry navigate and comply with OFAC sanctions. The guidance improves on earlier FAQs by providing sanctions compliance best practices tailored for the virtual currency industry and reflects Treasury’s commitment to “modernize and strengthen” US sanctions programs to adapt to what Treasury’s October 18, 2021 report on the 2021 Sanctions Review...READ MORE