In Fall 2010, in addition to his other human rights work as the Ethiopia Country Specialist for Amnesty International-USA, College of Charleston professor, Tim Carmichael, submitted numerous expert witness affidavits in pro-bono asylum cases on behalf of Ethiopian, Eritrean and Somali individuals fleeing past and possible future persecution at the hands of their home governments.
In three cases, he worked with law students at Georgetown University, the University of Michigan and the University of Arizona as they crafted legal arguments based on various factors, including imputed political opinion, real or perceived ethnic heritage, and female genital mutilation. In all cases, the Department of Homeland Security decided in favor of the defendant and granted legal residency in the United States.