Disability law scholars Dr. Peter Blanck and Prof. William N. Myhill of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) of Syracuse University are partnering with other leading disability advocates, attorneys, and faculty to establish that people with intellectual disabilities make up an immutable social group for purposes of U.S. asylum law.
Attorney Nelsy Gomez, Coane & Associates (Houston, TX) sought out this unique partnership to assist her clients, Olesya and Alexey Korneenkov, natives of Russia. The Korneenkovs are persons with intellectual impairments and are seeking asylum in the United States on the basis of past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution should they return to Russia.
The partnership is led by Brian East, Senior Attorney, Advocacy, Inc. (Austin, TX), and includes BBI, Steve Rosenbaum, Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (Berkeley, CA), Ken Shiotani, National Disability Rights Network (Washington, D.C.), and Carwina Weng, Clinical Associate Professor and Director, Disability Law Clinic, Indiana University School of Law.