PAIR Project, a nonprofit that offers free services to asylum seekers and detained immigrants, honored Partner Steven Barrett and Associates Disha Patel and Kim Crowley with the 2023 Pro Bono Asylum Award. The award reflects the team’s commitment to advancing PAIR’s mission to provide justice, hope and safety for members of Boston’s vibrant immigrant community.

In March of 2022, following a hard-fought defensive proceeding, Barrett, Patel and Crowley obtained a pro bono victory for a Mauritanian immigrant who endured a decade of enslavement before seeking asylum in the United States. After a two-day hearing, during which the Department of Homeland Security’s trial attorney repeatedly questioned the client’s credibility, Immigration Judge Jeb Terrien granted the request for asylum, noting that the client would likely face torture at the hands of the Mauritanian government if he were returned.

The team was among a handful of awardees from Greater Boston’s legal, nonprofit and business communities to be recognized during PAIR Project’s annual fundraising gala for their continuous efforts to provide high-quality legal services to the city’s asylum seekers.