Hi Everyone, The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still stonewalling Congress on why they denied the Kamran family's case. In July, a bipartisan coalition of 38 members of Congress, led by Congressmen Jeff Denham (R-CA10) and Jamie Raskin (D-MY08) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen requesting USCIS to tell Congress why they denied Muhammad and his family's case and how many other US military interpreters have been likewise denied. Congress asked USCIS to respond in two weeks, but more than three months later USCIS has still not responded. (You can read the letter here https://www.scribd.com/document/385846793/Letter-to-Homeland-Security#from_embed
USA Today published my OpEd on the Kamran family's case and our moral responsibility to provide refuge to Afghans and Iraqis who risk their own lives to serve our military:
My dad and I are going back to Washington, DC next week to meet with Reps. Denham's and Raskin's staff to talk about next steps that Congress can take to get an answer to their letter as well as to meet with Senate offices and ask them to help. It is unacceptable for USCIS to stonewall Congress on why they denied this case. According to Rep. Denham's staff, Congress's letter was an unprecedented effort on behalf of a US military interpreter, yet USCIS is refusing to respond. And at least one Senate office has directly contacted the USCIS Humanitarian Affairs Branch director, John Bird, who has personally reviewed the case, but Mr. Bird is also ignoring the Senate staffers who contacted him.
Please share the following letter (template below) with your Senators. You can find their contact information at https://whoismyrepresentative.com/ If you email them, you may also want to call their Washington, D.C. office and ask the office which staff member would be responsible for reviewing the letter (someone who handles immigration and/or military issues) and to put you in contact with that person. If you send a letter via US mail, please mail the letter to their WASHINGTON, DC office. And please email me (save.aysha@gmail.com) and let me know if you contacted your Senators so I can keep track of which Senate offices have been contacted.
**Letter Template**
[Date]
[The Honorable (First Name, Last Name)
United States House of Representatives/United State Senate
Office Address
City, State, Zip]
Subject: Please Help Save Afghan US Military Interpreter and his Young Family in Imminent Danger
Dear Senator ______________:
My name is [ ]. As your constituent, I am asking Senator [ ] to join a bipartisan effort to help save a US military interpreter, Muhammad Kamran, and his family, whose story was featured in a USA Today OpEd. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/09/10/afghan-interpreters-special-immigrant-visas-column/1250440002/
Muhammad Kamran faithfully served the US mission in Afghanistan for over 10 years before fleeing Afghanistan to live in hiding in Pakistan with his wife and young daughters, losing touch with his US military supervisors in the process. He then filed a refugee case on his own, only to be denied for discretionary “security concerns.”
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) then also denied a subsequent Humanitarian Parole case sponsored by the Perano family for not only Muhammad but also his wife and daughters. USCIS's sole basis for denying the Humanitarian Parole case was that Muhammad had been denied before as a refugee. The denial was despite the strong support of former Navy Lieutenant Karsten Daponte, who had personally worked with Muhammad in Afghanistan. When Muhammad's attorney pressed USCIS to at least allow Muhammad's young daughters to come live in the US with and aunt and uncle, USCIS Humanitarian Affairs Branch Director, John Bird, personally reviewed the reason for the Refugee case denial and made the absurd claim that USCIS's discretionary concerns also make Muhammad's children, including 3-year-old Aysha, a security concern.
Last July, 38 bipartisan members of Congress sent at letter to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen requesting to know why Muhammad Kamran's refugee case was denied as well as requesting data on how many US military interpreters have been likewise denied. (https://www.scribd.com/document/385846793/Letter-to-Homeland-Security#from_embed Although Congress requested a response by mid-August, USCIS has yet to respond to the letter. Additionally, despite having personal knowledge of the case, Humanitarian Affairs Branch director John Bird has ignored at least one Senate Office that has personally contacted him to ask why the case was denied.
I am asking Senator [] to support a Senate effort to request this information from USCIS on why they denied this case and how many other cases have been likewise denied. It is unacceptable for USCIS to refuse to respond to Congress's request to review this information.
For more specific information on Muhammad and his family’s cases, please contact my friend, Kristy Perano. Kristy can be reached at save.aysha@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
[Your name
Your address
Your City State, Zip
Your phone number and/or e-mail]