Refugee sues USCIS for taking too long to process his family reunification petition

A St. Cloud, Minnesota resident has filed a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) after waiting seven years to be reunited with his family. The edition told in more detail Kare11.

Photo: IStock

Rabbi Mohamed and his lawyers allege that their client's application for family reunification was subjected to unnecessary scrutiny and unusually long waiting times.

Rabbi Mohamed, a truck driver living in St. Cloud, came to the US as a refugee in 2015. He received this status because his parents applied for him when he was younger. He grew up in a refugee camp in Ethiopia after his family fled Somalia from war and persecution.

It was in this refugee camp that he met his wife, Sarah Abdulahi. There Mohamed and Abdulahi got married and had three children: Hudayfi, Hamza and Kalida.

Then in 2015, when Mohamed's application to come to the US as a refugee was approved, he moved to the US himself, as he understood that the inclusion of his wife and children in the refugee case would significantly delay the consideration.

On the subject: You can now reschedule your biometric appointment online: the immigration service has launched a new tool

He did not think that he would leave them for many years.

This year he received as a gift photographs of his wife and three sons for the holiday.

“This is for the holiday,” Mohamed said, showing photos of his boys on his phone. “Honestly, over the years I have been very sad because my family is not here.”

“My children are not here, I have no relatives here, so I have experienced a lot of sadness over the years,” he added.

And this distance is not for lack of trying. In 2016, a year after arriving in the US, Mohamed applied for family reunification. Family reunification is a unique right enjoyed by persons with refugee status. This allows them to bring their family members to the US.

This process, according to Alexandra Zaretskaya from the International Refugee Assistance Project, was supposed to take several months at most.

“Rabi’s case was considered for almost seven years only at this first stage, which, in essence, is to prove and confirm that he has a relationship with his wife and children,” Zaretskaya said. “Usually this step takes 8 months, but in 2022 it was all 28.”

Nevertheless, according to her, seven years is beyond the threshold of reason.

Both Mohamed and Zaretskaya say they have a hunch as to why it took so long.

“To be honest, I think the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, had something to do with it,” Mohamed suggested. “He banned people from my country from coming to this country for a certain period of time.”

Executive Order 13769, or the so-called Muslim ban, was signed by Trump in 2017.

Under the Biden administration, the effects of that ban still persist.

“Everyone has delays, but by far families from Somalia and other Muslim-majority countries face the biggest delays,” Zaretskaya said.

According to her, Mohamed's case has undergone an unusual test. The agency requested a DNA test to prove his relationship with his sons. Under USCIS' own rules, DNA evidence may be provided voluntarily in addition to an official birth certificate. USCIS cannot require DNA testing.

“He submitted everything that USCIS rules required for approval of his application,” Zaretskaya emphasized. “But they asked him a lot of detailed questions about the marriage certificate, the birth certificate. “They ended up asking for DNA confirmation when it wasn’t required.”

Another snag in this case was that Mohamed never received any communication from USCIS that they wanted DNA evidence.

The team only learned that his case was temporarily closed due to lack of evidence.

“At some point, the case got stuck in a pile of papers, and no one paid attention to it. These cases were repeatedly transferred across the country, to different processing centers,” Zaretskaya explained. “Every time this happens, the physical file has to be sent somewhere else and it just gets stuck in another pile.” So I think it's partly because of the disdain that people aren't paying attention to it, and maybe because of some of Trump's changes."

Mohamed has only been able to visit his family once in the last seven years.

His youngest Kalid is now four years old. Kalid was born after that last visit, and Mohamed had not yet held him in his hands.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Now that Kalid is older, Mohamed says he asks questions whenever they talk on the phone.

“Dad, when will you come back, when will you see us?” And I don’t have an answer for them, and that’s really a shame,” Mohamed is convinced. “I don’t know if he can understand what’s going on.” I just feel sad when he asks me these questions.”

Mohamed provided DNA evidence, although this is not required. This cleared the first hurdle for his application, but it could be years before his wife and children can physically come to the US. This involves interviews, processing and presentation of evidence that must occur on both sides - here in the US as well as in Ethiopia.

The plaintiff asks the court to help expedite the process without even asking for approval in the case.

His claim will continue to move through the court system to ensure that USCIS does not miss his case in further processing. In addition, the lawsuit contains a request for compensation for Mohamed's legal costs.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The couple moved into a van to save money, but gas and parking costs were higher than expected

Tap water in many states is contaminated with toxic chemicals

You can now reschedule your biometric appointment online: the immigration service has launched a new tool

Zuckerberg releases 'Twitter killer': how Meta's Threads app works

The number of spots on the Sun has reached a 20-year high: we are threatened by dangerous heat and powerful solar storms

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.