Imprisoned and beaten for his religious beliefs, Lobsang, a 21-year-old Buddhist Tibetan, fled to the United States. After requesting asylum at O'Hare International Airport, he was detained in a county jail by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

He struggled to communicate with jail staff and was detained for nearly a month before he was able to locate a lawyer who could help him. He could only speak with his lawyer when a volunteer Tibetan interpreter was available. Lobsang sought safe haven and posed no threat to our society, yet the government detained him for four months and made it nearly impossible for him to find the legal help he needed to prove that he was eligible for protection under U.S. asylum law.

In April 2007 Lobsang was featured in a Chicago Public Radio news story about the government's treatment of asylum seekers. Listen to the story, and read more about asylum seekers in detention.