“Asylum Denied” gains national attention

Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, N.Y. — A book about a Tortured Kenyan refugee and his lawyer who fought to keep him in the U.S. is gaining national attention.

“Asylum Denied: A Refugee’s Struggle for Safety in America” www.asylumdenied.com is authored by Philip G. Schrag and David Ngaruri Kenney. Kenney was arrested, tortured and nearly killed in Kenya. He escaped to the U.S. where Schrag represented Kenney in court.

The book has been positively reviewed by The Financial Times, The National Catholic Reporter and Jeff Greenfield of CBS News, among others. In September, the authors visited Hofstra Law School to hold a lecture.

“Phil Schrag and David Ngaruri Kenney show the potentially devastating consequences of our harsh immigration laws,” said Associate Clinical Professor Lauris Wren of the Hofstra Law School Asylum Clinic.

“I’m very lucky to have Phil on my side,” said Kenney, during the Hofstra Law lecture. “Phil saved my life and it was because of his hard work that I now live happily in America and I have a beautiful family.”

Kenney is a graduate of The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. He works at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office in Maryland.

Schrag explained how he became an advocate of refugee rights. It all started 15 years ago when he visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. “I was appalled by America’s refusal to accept certain refugees and I wanted to do something about it!” Schrag exclaimed.

For the last 15 years, Schrag has helped more than 100 refugees win asylum. He is a professor of law and director of the Center for Applied Legal Studies and Public Interest Law Scholars Program at Georgetown University.

Schrag received the 2008 LexisNexis Matthew Bender® Daniel Levy Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Immigration Law. He was honored for his enthusiastic advocacy on behalf of immigrant clients, his deep scholarship in immigration law and his expansive vision of justice.

Schrag is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. Published by the University of California Press, “Asylum Denied” is Schrag’s 13th book.