Kasowitz Secures Trial Win for Pro Bono Client to Protect Grandchildren from Being Returned to Abusive Home in Foreign Country

Kasowitz, in partnership with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV), a legal aid organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals in the Hudson Valley area, secured a significant victory on behalf of a client, who was at risk of having her two minor grandchildren forced to return to their home country where they had previously been subjected to abuse and neglect by their parents.
 
In 2022, the children’s parents trafficked the children – aged 8 years old and 9 months old at the time – into the United States.  The father was caught by U.S. border patrol and deported.  The children were eventually united with their grandmother, who lives in the Hudson Valley.  While living with their grandmother, the older child disclosed severe abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother and stepfather.  After living with their grandmother for more than a year, the children’s parents completed the process for issuance of passports on behalf of their children to allow them to return to their home country.  The children expressed fear of returning to their parents, and their grandmother sought custody of the children in Family Court.  The parents then initiated an action in federal court for the return of the children under the Hague Convention for International Child Abduction, and under the United States’ International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA).  The parents argued that the children were wrongfully retained by their grandmother and should be returned to their parents in their home country, and Kasowitz and LSHV defended the grandmother.
 
The hearing spanned five days in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (White Plains Division), and included the taking of testimony both in-person and virtually from six fact witnesses and three expert witnesses, with simultaneous translators for both sides.  On July 31, 2025, Judge Nelson S. Román issued a decision denying the petition for the return of the children, finding that the grandmother had successfully met her burden of proof to apply exceptions for when children are well-settled, where there is grave risk, and based on a child’s age and maturity.  This important decision developed the law for Hague Convention matters, specifically in the context of sibling relationships in such cases, and will be helpful in future Hague Convention matters involving child abuse.
 
The Kasowitz team handling this pro bono matter includes partner Christian T. Becker and associates Brittany F. Alzfan, Melissa Capalbo, and Erin Ringel.  LSHV’s team was headed by Kassandra Brescia.