Estrella Sanchez (left), and Jeff Fisher, her pro bono lawyer from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. (Courtesy photo)

Estrella Sanchez, a transgender immigrant who claimed she suffered repeated rapes and abuse while growing up in Mexico—and then endured harassment in a U.S. immigration prison—has finally won asylum with the help of her pro bono lawyers from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

After denying Sanchez's petition three times, U.S. Immigration Court Judge Dan Trimble granted Sanchez asylum last week, three years after a Kilpatrick team led by Jeff Fisher and Michael Turton first took on her case.

“I think she didn't believe it until the judge said the words,” Fisher said. “Then she smiled and cried.”