Today, the Border Crossing Law Firm won cancellation of removal for two clients from Zimbabwe who had been in the United States for over twenty years, and feared that they would be persecuted by the government of Zimbabwe if they were forced to return.  Their removal proceedings began in a very unfortunate manner, as they were stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) in a seemingly unwarranted stop near the Canadian border.For the next several years, we represented our clients in Immigration Court, as we worked through several steps in the process to prevent their deportation.  The couple has several children who are U.S. citizens, and these children would experience  significant hardship if the whole family had to move to Zimbabwe — a country experiencing political turmoil as well as devastating poverty and outbreaks of illnesses like cholera.Cancellation of removal is an extraordinary form of relief that is available to individuals who can demonstrate:  (1) continuous physical presence in the U.S. for at least 10 years; (2) good moral character during this time; (3) no relevant criminal convictions; and (4) exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a U.S. citizen that would result from removal.Although it is extremely difficult to obtain cancellation of removal, the Firm was able to prove that our clients satisfied each of these criteria.  Based on the dangerous political climate in Zimbabwe, the rampant spread of cholera, and the disastrous school system — among other factors — we were able to demonstrate that the conditions in Zimbabwe would have caused exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to our clients’ children.We are deeply proud to have ensured that our clients and their children can remain in the United States on a permanent basis.