In early 2017, Robert Michael, a lawyer in New York City, was contacted by a client who wanted to apply to become a permanent resident of the United States. Specifically, the client, who lived in a largely Muslim country, hoped to get an exceptional ability green card, which are issued to non-citizens with “a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.” Michael is a bankruptcy and commercial lawyer as well as an expert on Islamic law, and usually does not handle immigration cases.